Population demographics of Palaemon peringueyi (Macpherson 1990) (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) in a small intermittently open Eastern Cape estuary

The population demographics of the caridean shrimp Palaemon peringueyi was investigated monthly at four sites over a period of one year in the small, intermittently-open Grants River Estuary situated on the south-east coastline of southern Africa. Mean total abundance and biomass of P. peringueyi ranged between 0 and 23.2 ind m–2 and 0 and 2.3mg wwt m–2, respectively. A peak in its abundance coincided with a breaching event that occurred in December 2004, and could be attributed to the mass recruitment of juveniles (carapace length