Hippolyte clarki Chace, 1951

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 71

Hippolyte clarki Chace, 1951

( Fig. 17E–H, Pl. 1 G)

Hippolyte clarki Chace, 1951: 37 , fig. 1; 1997: 46. — Kozloff 1974: 165. — Word & Charwat 1976: 137. — Butler 1980: 156, pl. 3A. — Chace & Abbott 1980: 573. — Wicksten 1983b: 25; 1990b: 589. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 348. — Jensen 1995: 49, fig. 85. — Kuris et al. 2007: 638, pl. 318 G.

Diagnosis (modified from Chace 1951). Female: rostrum exceeding antennular peduncle, scaphocerite, with 2–5 dorsal, 1–5 ventral teeth, apex bifid. No spines on first segment of antennular peduncle, stylocerite not reaching end of first segment, peduncle shorter than scaphocerite. Carapace with supraorbital, antennal, branchiosetegal teeth. Third maxilliped with exopod, no epipod. Pereopods with epipods. Pereopod 1 particularly short, stout. Carpus of pereopod 2 with 3 segments: length of segment 1, 3 times longer than segment 2; segment 2 shorter than segment 3. Pereopods 3–5 with short, spinose dactyls. Merus of pereopod 3 with 2–5 spines, carpus with 1, propodus slender, dactyl curved, armed with 8 long proximal, 6–8 lower distal spinules. Merus of pereopod 4 with as many as 5 spines, merus of pereopod 5 with as many as 4 spines. Pleura of abdominal somites 1–4 rounded, of 5, 6 obliquely pointed. Abdominal somite 3 produced into low, blunt cap over anterior part of somite 4. Length of abdominal somite 6 nearly twice that of somite 5. Telson shorter than abdominal somite, with 2 pairs dorsolateral spines, 6–8 terminal spines. Uropods exceeding length of telson. Male: rostrum similar to that of female but shorter, more slender. Propodi of pereopods 3–5 with dactyl folding against expanded distal portion of propodus. Total length of male to 18 mm, female to 31 mm,.

Color in life. Camouflaged like algae: green, mottled or striped brown with tan, yellow brown.

Habitat and depth. Among kelps: Macrocystis , Eisenia and Nereocystis spp. Usually shallow, near surface in kelp canopy to at least 2 m.

Range. Sheep Bay , Alaska to Cedros I., Baja California, Mexico. Type locality Friday Harbor, Washington .

Remarks. Kuris et al. (2007: 651) stated that the habitat of this species is "low intertidal in eelgrass beds.” Butler (1980: 157) also reported the species "on eelgrass" but it is far more common in California to find this species among kelps.