Hippolytidae Dana, 1852

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 69

Family Hippolytidae Dana, 1852

Following the classification by Christoffersen (1988a), only two species found in the area of coverage now are included in this family. These two species each have one pair of supraorbital teeth and three carpal articles in the second pereopod. Both usually are associated with sea grasses or algae. In life, they are well camouflaged, colored brown, green, splotched, or otherwise like the algae or sea grasses among which they live. At night, they change color to blue. Often, they rest parallel to the long axis of the algae or grass. The shrimps are sexually dimorphic, males usually smaller than females and with a subchelate pereopod 3 and very short rostrum.