Key:  Family Oplophoridae (A family of pelagic shrimp)

Taken primarily from  Kozloff, 1987, 1996  p. 394. (Copyright 1987, 1996, University of Washington Press.  Used in this web page by permission of University of Washington Press)

An excellent alternate, up to date key can be found in Wicksten, 2009 on page 55.

Other members of this Family which are not found in the Salish Sea and so are not in this key:
  Oplophorus spinosus
   Systellaspis debilis
 
 

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1a	Abdominal segment 6 (the last segment) with a median dorsal ridge (segments 1-5 or 2-5 may also have a ridge)	2
1b	Abdominal segment 6 without a median dorsal ridge (in Systellaspis, segment 3, and sometimes segment 4, also have a median ridge) (photo)	3
2a	All abdominal segments with a median dorsal ridge; carapace with a prominent lateral ridge	Notostomus japonicus
2b	Abdominal segment 1 without a median dorsal ridge; carapace without a prominent lateral ridge that runs its full length on both sides	Acanthephyra curtirostris
3a	Eyes almost without pigment; none of the abdominal segments with a median dorsal ridge (exoskeleton very soft and flexible)	4
3b	Eyes dark, with considerable pigment; abdominal segment 3, and sometimes 4, with a median dorsal ridge (photo)	7
4a	Telson with a bluntly rounded, setose (but not spinose) distal portion that projects beyond the last pair of lateral spines, which are much longer than the other lateral spines	Hymenodora acanthitelsonis
4b	Telson without a rounded distal portion that projects beyond the last pair of lateral spines (the tip of the telson, moreover, has several spines)	5
5a	Rostrum extending only slightly beyond the cornea of the eye	6
5b	Rostrum extending up to or beyond the distal end of the peduncle of antenna 1	Hymenodora frontalis
6a	Maxilliped 2 with a podobranch on the epipodite; carapace with a V-shaped groove (the apex of the V directed ventrally) on both sides near the middle of its length	Hymenodora gracilis
6b	Maxilliped 2 without a podobranch on the epipodite; carapace without a V-shaped groove on both sides	Hymenodora glacialis
7a	Rostrum about half as long as the rest of the carapace; abdominal segment 5 without a median dorsal spine at its posterior edge	Systellaspis braueri
7b	Rostrum more than half as long as the rest of the carapace; abdominal segment 5 with a median dorsal spine at its posterior edge (photo)	Systellaspis cristata

  Acanthephyra curtirostris
  Hymenodora acanthitelsonis
  Hymenodora frontalis
  Hymenodora glacialis
  Hymenodora gracilis
  Notostomus japonicus
  Oplophorus spinosus
  Systellaspis braueri
  Systellaspis cristata
   Systellaspis debilis