THE NORTHERN RIVER SHRIMP CRYPHIOPS CAEMENTARIUS (DECAPODA, PALAEMONIDAE). RESEARCH CHRONOLOGY BETWEEN 1958 AND 2008, I: DISTRIBUTION, POPULATION STATUS, BIOLOGY AND LIFE CYCLE

The present study is a review of the main inland water malacostracan species of northern Chile: Cryphiops caementarius (Molina, 1782). This species sustains the local fisheries in northern and central Chilean hydrographical basins. Cryphiops caementarius, in Chile known as the northern river shrimp, is endemic to rivers west of the Andes Mountains in Peru, and south from Chancay-Lambayeque River and the rivers in the northern Chilean littoral up to 32 degrees 55'S. Research on this species in its natural habitat consigned between 1958 to 2008 was directed to population knowledge, including mainly the existing populations in rivers in the Regions of Atacama and Coquimbo. Important advances were also made with regards to the study of the embryonic development, biology, life cycle and reproduction that serve as a basis for the technological development of juvenile production in a controlled environment.