Hypoxia is a common and widespread phenomenon in aquatic ecosystems, imposing a significant challenge for the animals that inhabit such waters. In different habitats, however, the characteristics of these hypoxic events may differ, therefore imposing different challenges. We investigated the tolerance of adult ghost shrimp Neohypaea uncinata (an intertidal mudflat dweller) to different partial pressures of oxygen (pO(2)), severe hypoxia (2 kPa) and recovery from hypoxia after different exposure times, mimicking the natural tidal cycle (6 h and 12 h). We calculated critical oxygen tension and categorize the adult ghost shrimps as oxyregulators (R value = 75.27%). All physiological measurements (metabolic rate, oxyhemocyanin, hemolymph protein and lactate concentrations) were affected by exposure to low partial pressures of oxygen, but most of them recovered (with exception of metabolic rate) control values (21 kPa) after 6 h under normoxic conditions. Low metabolic rate, high release of hemolymphatic proteins and anaerobic metabolism are suggested as response mechanisms to overcome hypoxic events during low tide. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.