Description
The Hawaiian river shrimp is light to dark brown in color and grows to eight centimeters in length. It has asymmetric pincer claws unlike any other shrimps in Hawai'i. They scavenge at the bottom of slow flowing streams for animal and plant material. They reproduce year round with an incubation period lasting approximately three to four weeks. After hatching, the larvae gets washed down into the ocean where they spend a month developing before they return to streams to mature.Distribution & Habitat
Historic distribution includes all the main islands in Hawai'i that consist of everlasting streams. They currently can be found high quality streams in Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i as well as wetlands, small ponds, and closed off body of waters.Human use
Hawaiian river shrimp are not caught for food or used in any way.References
# Yamamoto M, Tagawa A. 2000. Hawaii’s native and exotic freshwater animals. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing. 200 pp. # De Grave, S., Cai, Y. & Wowor, D. 2013. ''Macrobrachium grandimanus'' (errata version published in 2019). ''The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species'' 2013: e.T197590A147784025.