Presumed filter-feeding in a deep-sea benthic shrimp (Decapoda, Caridea, Stylodactylidae), with records of the deepest occurrence of carideans

Abstract

Using the remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer, we observed a large stylodactylid shrimp resting on a sedimented sea floor at 4826 m in the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. The shrimp was not collected but most closely resembled Bathystylodactylus bathyalis, known previously only from a single broken specimen. Video footage shows the shrimp facing into the current and extending its upraised and fringed first and second pereopods, presumably capturing passing particles. The video footage is the first ever to show a living deep-sea stylodactylid and constitutes the deepest record for the family. We provide a list of the deepest reports of caridean shrimps world-wide.