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Caridina murrayata is a species of shrimp found exclusively in Lake Murray (South Carolina). Caridina murrayata is believed to be a species derived from a population of C. multidentata that was isolated to Lake Murray in the 1920s when the dam was originally constructed.
[edit] Origin
According to different sources, Caridina multidentata was introduced into the waters of south carolina by Ben Tillman in the late 1890s. Tillman became acquainted with the shrimp during a stay in Japan. Knowing that it survived well in fresh water, he thought it would be possible to sustain populations in South Carolina and thereby create revenue selling them inland as an alternative to shrimp imported from Charleston. The isolated population in Lake Murray was classified as a new species in the 1990s when it was found that they had anatomical features significantly divergent from those of C. multidentata. There are no known surviving populations of the original C. multidentata in South Carolina waters. The lack of interbreeding is believed to have facilitated the extreme pace of the population's evolutionary divergence.
[edit] Differences with Caridina multidentata
C. murrayata are 2-3 centimeters smaller than C. multidentata. The Lake Murray population has lost the small points that run along the sides of C. multidentata, and have a doubling of the white stripe along the dorsal surface.
[edit] Quick facts
- Common names: Murray shrimp
[edit] See also
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