Freshwater Shrimp in Florida Spring?

[jtsfour]

I was diving the Cavern in Morrison springs the other day and I found a shrimp.

It was in the bottom of the cavern eating off of some rocks at the bottom. It was a standard dull grey color and was probably 4-5” long. It didn’t have any big claws or anything to make it stand out.

I wasn’t able to get any pictures or analyze it for long.

I have never heard of or seen any freshwater shrimp in Florida until I found this. It confused the hell out of me.

 

[tursiops]

Probably a prawn. Not unusual.

 

[archman]

It depends on what you mean by "shrimp". Freshwater mysid shrimps are common in many North American ponds, lakes, and streams. Most of the freshwater species are fairly small however and I doubt most divers would notice them. They tend to have very transparent bodies.

There are also caridean freshwater shrimps. The genus Palaemonetes possesses many common freshwater species, but these tend to also be very small with usually transparent bodies. In the genus Macrobrachium you'll find larger, more "crayfish looking" shrimps. There are multiple species of Macrobrachium found in Florida freshwater systems. Grey is a common colour for some of these species.

And then there's the cambarid crayfishes, which are also common in Florida. Many of these species will have larger front claws compared to other shrimp-like looking animals. Some of these can also be grey colored.