It is a peculiarity of nature amply demonstrated by the six shrimp species that thrive off the coast of British Colombia. Their strange habit of changing sex in mid-life, spending a year or two as active males before being transformed into females, is known as protandric hermaphrodism . In fact, although most individuals follow this pattern, in some species a more or less large proportion of shrimp actually bypass the male phase. The shrimps are generally similar in appearance and size. However, there are a number of minor distinguishing anatomical features and unique colour patterns which have inspired some of the common names used by West Coast shrimp fishermen and allow identification of the varying species.
Mature shrimps breed in the late autumn or early winter.
A short time later, developing eggs appear on the female's swimmerets - a fringe of short appendages on a shrimp's abdomen. They are carried there until hatching in the spring. In size, the sidestripe is second only to the prawn, with large females reaching 20 cm in length. The long antennules and striped abdomen clearly distinguish this shrimp from other species. The sidestripe occurs in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea to the Oregon coast.