SHRIMPS have much more in common with bees than anyone thought. According to one American marine scientist, the social organisation of some shrimp societies is similar to that of a beehive, in which individuals cooperate to survive.
Several animals鈥攁mong them African mole rats, termites and some bees鈥攍ive in communities with complex social structures. Some individuals forego their own reproduction to fulfil other roles, such as defence, foraging and most importantly the care of the young. In this week鈥檚 Nature (vol 381, p 512), Emmett Duffy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science reports that he has found the first example of a marine animal that exhibits this behaviour.
Duffy studied a small shrimp (Synalpheus regalis) that lives in the internal canals of sponges off the coast of Belize. He found that in each colony of up to 300 individuals there was only one reproductive female, the 鈥渜ueen鈥�. Genetic analysis of the shrimps鈥� cell proteins showed that most were the offspring of the queen.
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Duffy also says that when a shrimp of a different species intrudes on a colony, resident shrimps kill it. Yet like bees, they recognise members of their own colony and do not harm them.