Un 'fairy shrimp' discovered in Orchid Island (Taiwan)
'Fairy Shrimp': is the name of a particular species of shrimp of which a hitherto unknown variety has been discovered on Orchid Island, an island of 45 sq km off the coast of Taiwan. Specimens of these 'fairy shrimp' (so named for their colors: red, orange and green, with gills that look like feathers) existed in Xiangtian Lake (still in Taiwan), but the Orchid Island species is different; similar, but still different, to another type of shrimp found in Queensland, Australia. The 'fairy shrimp' are a very ancient species, they even coexisted with dinosaurs. Technically, they are not crayfish but branchiopods (in Linnaeus' classification system), and their eggs are exceptionally hardy: they survive drought, extreme heat as well as hypothermia, and there is a case where an egg hatched after 10 years.
Researchers from the National Museum of Marine Biology Aquarium (NMMBA) worked with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in the United States to analyze the DNA of fairy shrimp and determine the molecular phylogenetic relationships with related species.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2014/07/08/411879/Researchers-reveal.htm
Attachments: china post
