Tiny, shrimp-like "cling-ons"?

[sonofzell]

Greetings!

I've been wondering exactly what these critters are, but only now realized this sub-forum existed! These guys were found about 8mi off the coast of Nags Head, NC at the "Advance II (AR145)" wreck. The dive was down to 78', but I can't say exactly where we picked these guys up. When we got back on the boat, there were literally dozens of them clinging on to just about everything we had exposed - bcd, suits, gloves, hoods, hoses, etc. I'd say they were just under one-half inch in length and squirmed frantically. Even back onshore, we ended up "scraping" them off our gear as they refused to rinse off!

The dive was in June of 2019, with water temps 69F-81F. They're certainly not a "pretty" find, but I'm curious to know exactly what they are (unfortunately, I was too seasick to really care at the time lol!).

 

[The Chairman]

It looks like krill...

 

[San Diego Climber]

Skeleton shrimp ("shrimp" in that they're not true shrimp) Caprellidae - Wikipedia
Isn't it creepy finding them all over you?!

 

[sonofzell]

Skeleton shrimp ("shrimp" in that they're not true shrimp) Caprellidae - Wikipedia
Isn't it creepy finding them all over you?!

Nailed it - Thank you!

And yes, I couldn't believe how many we had picked up! I did feel bad about the massacre, but they were just too numerous and too stubborn/clingy for any rescue effort lol.

 

[tursiops]

They do not look like skeleton shrimp to me. Yours are too fat in the body.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Did a hull scrub on a right skanky tub a few weeks ago. When I came up my beard was full of them. Supervisor thought they might be shrimp larvae

 

[Esprise Me]

I encountered some very similar-looking critters near San Diego recently, and have been wondering what they were.

 

[tursiops]

Did a hull scrub on a right skanky tub a few weeks ago. When I came up my beard was full of them. Supervisor thought they might be shrimp larvae

Likely. Skeleton Shrimp have very specialized habitats and are bottom dwellers on things like hydroids.

 

[peterak]

Likely. Skeleton Shrimp have very specialized habitats and are bottom dwellers on things like hydroids.

Not that specialized. Caprellids (skeleton shrimp) commonly colonize boat hulls and the like.

From a NZ news site (Boaties warned of skeleton shrimp invasion) :

Boaties are being warned to check their hulls for "weird, hitch-hiking" skeleton shrimp invading New Zealand waters.

The marine amphipod crustacean, caprella mutica, are poor swimmers, and are spreading rapidly around the country by attaching themselves to boat hulls or drifting algae to move around.

"They readily colonise artificial structures, at times occurring in huge densities on anchored buoys, fish cages, wharves and vessel hulls," National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) biosecurity scientist Chris Woods said.

"We have observed densities up to 180,000 caprellids per square metre. Boat owners are saying to us, 'what are these waving things all over the hulls of our boats?' when they slip their craft and discover the hull alive with movement."

The creatures, originally from northeast Asia, have spread along coastlines throughout the northern hemisphere in the last 40 years.

 

[peterak]

The critters in the OP don't look like C. mutica, but may be some other caprellid species.