Chameleon shrimp got its name because it can change its color from transparent to almost completely black. At first glance, it looks like common shrimp. However, it is thinner and they have no claws or walking legs. Chameleon shrimp can hold onto stones and seaweed with their front legs. They eat plankton and swim around with their head erected. Young chameleon shrimp are smaller replicas of their parents.

The roughly 1000 known species of mysid shrimp range in size from around 2 mm to 8 cm. This group of Peracarida was formerly combined with the far less diverse Lophogastrida as the Mysidacea. Mysids are superficially similar to the euphausiids (krill). They may be pelagic (living in open water) or demersal (living near the bottom) and are found at all ocean depths. Some species are intertidal and burrow in the sand during low tides. Most mysids are omniverous suspension feeders. (Brusca and Brusca 2003)

An excellent online source on the Mysida is Gary Anderson's Peracarida Taxa and Literature website.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
                                        

Specimen Records:	1,128	Public Records:	877
Specimens with Sequences:	898	Public Species:	88
Specimens with Barcodes:	747	Public BINs:	121
Species:	110
Species With Barcodes:	91

Access Published & Released Data: Download FASTA File

Collection Sites: world map showing specimen collection locations for Mysida

Genomic DNA is available from 2 specimens