New species of shrimp discovered in south London aquarium

A new species of shrimp has been discovered in the tanks of a south London museum, having arrived there on a rock plucked from the Caribbean Ocean, scientists believe.

The shallow-water invertebrate, which has also been observed in aquariums in France and Poland, was named Heteromysis hornimani in honour of the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, where it was first found.

Fully grown adults measure no more than about 6mm and are said to dance in a figure of eight motion.

They are largely transparent with yellowy-brown areas and small orange spots. Pregnant females carry a sack of bright-green eggs, as found in other species of opoussum shrimps.

The species is so far not found in nature and is only known from tanks in the Horniman Museum as well as the Oceanopolis Aquarium in Brest and the Aquarium de Paris, both in France, and Wroclaw Zoo in Poland.