''Lepidophthalmus turneranus'' (formerly ''Callianassa turnerana''), the Cameroon ghost shrimp, is a species of " ghost shrimp" or "mud lobster" that lives off the coast of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

. It occasionally erupts into dense swarms, one of which resulted in the naming of the country

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

Distribution

''Lepidophthalmus turneranus'' is found in

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...

s and

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environme ...

, including almost

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...

, around the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...

from

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

to Congo.

Description

Adults reach a total length of . The

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships * Ros ...

ends in three or five teeth, a feature shared with the Madagascan species '' L. grandidieri''. In juveniles, the teeth may be missing. There is a

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

in the form of the

cheliped A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are called chelipeds. ...

(claw-bearing

appendage An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part, or natural prolongation, that protrudes from an organism's body. In arthropods, an appendage refers to any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment, including ante ...

): females have a "deep crescent-shaped depression" near the base of the inside of the claw's fixed finger, while males lack this depression.

Ecology and behaviour

''Lepidophthalmus turneranus'' lives in

burrow An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of s ...

s in mud. Every three to five years, vast swarms form in

, and

copulation Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetra ...

occurs outside the burrow. When

James Aspinall Turner James Aspinall Turner (1797 – 28 September 1867) was a British businessman, entomologist and Whig politician. He was the son of John Turner of Mayfield, near Bolton, and his wife, Elizabeth Aspinall of Liverpool.''Obituary'', The Gentleman's ...

presented the first specimens to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, he noted that:

... this long-bodied Crustacean appears periodically in the river in prodigious numbers, which disappear in the course of ten days or a fortnight. The natives are very fond of them, as they are delicious eating; and as soon as they make their appearance in the river, the men here leave their usual pursuits to catch them.

Taxonomic history

The Cameroon ghost shrimp was first described by Adam White in 1861, under the name ''Callianassa turnerana''. That description was based on a specimen given by "the captain of an African trader" to

, who in turn presented it to the Zoology Department of the British Museum (now part of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

). The species was transferred to the genus '' Lepidophthalmus'' by K. Sakai in 1999.

Cameroon

''L. turneranus'' is "probably the only crustacean ... for which a country is named". When the Portuguese discovered the

Wouri River The Wouri (also Vouri or Vuri) is a river in Cameroon. Cameroon has two major rivers, the Sanaga, the longest at about 525 km (325 miles) long and the Wouri, the largest. The Wouri forms at the confluence of the rivers Nkam and Makombé, ...

in the 15th century, they witnessed a swarm of ''L. turneranus'', and therefore named the river ' ("river of the shrimp"). That name was

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

to "Cameroons River", which came to be used for the whole country, and borrowed into other languages (including the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

', the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

' and the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q291599 Thalassinidea Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Crustaceans described in 1861 Taxa named by Adam White (zoologist)