Sam is a
seven year old boy who went fishing for the first time. He was on holiday in
the Kaipara, north of Auckland. To his surprise he didn’t catch a fish, but this
giant shrimp, called Japanese mantis shrimp. A shrimp is not a fish, but a crustacean.
It has a powerful spear, which it uses to hunt. You don’t want this creature
lashing out at your finger, as it could spear right through it! Can you tell from the picture how large it is?
The
Japanese mantis shrimp is an invasive species, which means it doesn’t belong in NZ, and has a negative effect on the environment. It probably arrived here
on a fishing vessel.
Sam donated
his catch to the museum, and now it has become part of the marine collection.
The lady in the picture is Wilma. She works at the museum and is a taxonomist, which means she can identify many creatures and give them the correct label. She told me the scientific name for this shrimp is Oratosquila oratorio.
Fun fact: in Japan they eat hem as sushi.
Hi Mrs van de Ven this is Thomas Miller in Room 1, Mrs Shipton showed us your blog today.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting that a child found this Japanese shrimp that was in our water, I hope there would not be too many of them. We looked at the image and it measured 17cm I think it was very interesting that you left facts for us about this shrimp. I hope you are having a great time learning while you are away from us.
Hi Thomas,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, and I'm pleased you found the information interesting. The museum if full of fascinating items, and every day I discover something new which is exciting.
I hope too there aren't too many of these shrimps in our waters. Would you be able to find out? Where would you look for this information?
Regards,
Mrs van de Ven