A New Tree-Dwelling Shrimp Was Found in Papua

A new shrimp species found in Papua lives in soil and trees, and uses its hind legs to make long jumps when predators chase it.

Biology

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A 2023 expedition in the Cyclops Mountains of Indonesian Papua uncovered a remarkably unusual shrimp. Unlike the coastal relatives this group is normally associated with, the newly discovered terrestrial shrimp lives on land, turning up both in soil and high in the trees, hundreds of meters up mountain slopes. The researchers were especially surprised because shrimp are so strongly associated with water. The Cyclops Mountains are extremely wet, and the expedition team believes the high humidity may help make life on land possible for these animals. The shrimp has another unusual trick: when threatened by predators, it can use its hind legs to make long jumps, including jumps between trees. It also carries its eggs in pockets along its body. The shrimp was one of several striking discoveries from the expedition, which also documented numerous new insect species and a frog that had not yet been formally described. The findings highlight how much biodiversity can remain hidden in difficult-to-explore tropical mountain forests.

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