Shrimps are widespread and abundant.
They can be found feeding near the seafloor on most coasts and estuaries, as well as in
rivers and lakes.
Even though they are mostly related to us as a food source, the variations within these
decapod crustaceans are truly a sight to behold.
As there are thousands of species adapted to a wide range of habitats, let's take a
look at 10 of the most beautiful shrimps in the world.
Number 10.
Found in the Aleutian Islands from Alaska to Puget Sound, the candy stripe shrimp is
truly a living gem with its distinctive bright colored bands.
Growing up to a length of 4.5 cm, the body of this beautiful shrimp is translucent and
covered with bright yellow, blue, and red bands.
It often lives on rocks in association with sea anemones, remaining on the base of the
column or foraging around on the oral disk picking up scraps as food source.
Number 9.
Endemic to Lake Towuti in Indonesia, the Sulawesi harlequin shrimp is a popular species in the
aquarium trade because of its striking appearance.
Legs and feelers have bands of both red and white along their lengths, eye stalks are
red and the eyes themselves are black and fairly large in size.
Usually found on rocky substrate, this beautiful shrimp is currently assessed as Critically
Endangered by the IUCN as it is under threat due to pollution by
the human activities and nickel mining and uncontrolled harvesting for the aquarium trade.
Number 8.
Often found on the reefs off Bermuda, the Pederson's shrimp is a small transparent shrimp
with bluish violet markings on the body and long white antennae.
Within its range is unlikely to be confused with other species.
It is often associated with a sea anemone, at depths of 1 to 15 metres.
In fact, up to 26 shrimp have been found associated with one sea anemone but usually
there are just one or two.
The shrimp also offers cleaning services to passing fish and attracts their attention
by lashing its antennae about.
Fish visiting the cleaning station will remain stationary while their external parasites
are removed and eaten by the shrimp, which even cleans inside the gill covers and the
mouth.
Number 7.
The pacific cleaner shrimp is a natural part of the coral reef ecosystem and is widespread
across the tropics typically living at depths of 5–40 metres.
The body and legs of this shrimp are pale amber in colour with longitudinal bands on
the carapace, one central white band is flanked by wider scarlet red bands
while there are several symmetrical white spots on the red tail.
Often living in pairs, and while omnivorous it is believed this species derive much of
their nutrition from cleaning parasites and dead tissue from fish.
Because of this, they are commonly kept in salt water aquaria as they will clean both
the tank and fish but not harm corals.
For these reasons also they are often kept in both home and public aquaria for educational
purposes, sometimes in 'touch pools' which allow visitors
to put their hand in the water so the shrimp will clean their hand.
Number 6.
The fire shrimp is a beautiful marine shrimp from the Indo-Pacific that makes a great addition
to almost any saltwater aquarium.
They are vividly colored with bright red bodies that have small white circles on their carapace
while the lower portions of their legs are white, as are portions of their antennae.
As a cleaner shrimp, this species provides a "cleaning service" for reef fish by eating
the parasites off of them.
Unfortunately fire shrimp are less likely to exhibit this cleaning behavior in captivity
than are other species of cleaner shrimp as they are more likely to scavenge the bottom
of the tank and live rock for their meals, however, they do sometimes "clean" parasites
from fish.
Number 5.
There are many variations of the bee shrimp but it is the black bee shrimp sometimes referred
to as crystal bee is the original one.
It is a freshwater shrimp that likes to inhabit small rivers or streams with slow moving water.
It is native to China but there are some reports that are also found naturally in Taiwan.
This species is in demand as aquarium pets, making areas with suitable climates shrimp
farms spring up to supply them even though they are more difficult to farm
than other shrimp because their health depends on being raised in soft water that matches
the pH of their native streams.
Many modern versions of bee shrimp are selectively bred for their characteristics.
Number 4.
The cardinal shrimp is a species of freshwater shrimp that is endemic to Lake Matano of Sulawesi
Indonesia where it can grow up to 2.5 cm in length.
Considered one of the most attractive shrimps, this species has becoming increasingly sought
after by aquarists.
Although previously locally abundant, no cardinal shrimp have been recorded in the wild since
2013 due to pollution from nickel mining and human activities.
Number 3.
Reaching about 5 centimetres in length, the harlequin shrimp is a species of saltwater
shrimp found at coral reefs in the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans.
Living in pairs and feed exclusively on starfish, they are very skilled at flipping over the
slow moving starfish on its back and eating the tube feet and soft tissues until it reaches
the central disk.
This beautiful does seem to prefer smaller, more sedentary starfish, but as these generally
are not sufficiently numerous for its needs, it commonly will attack crown-of-thorns starfish,
both reducing its consumption of coral while under attack and killing it within a few days.
Number 2.
Found in the Western Pacific regions, the Spiny tiger shrimp is a small colorful creature
that grows to only about 2 cm long.
These shrimp typically live in pairs or small families under sponges and coral, where they
like to dine on brittle stars and can be quite fierce in capturing their prey.
Despite its small size, it has been known that this shrimp tends to stab a brittle star
repeatedly with the sharp tip of its claws until the star is too weak to fight back and
can be consumed by the shrimp.
Number 1.
Native to the Indo-Pacific from Guam to East Africa, the peacock mantis shrimp is a large
mantis shrimp that can grow up to 18cm in length.
An active hunter, it prefers gastropods, crustaceans, and bivalves and will repeatedly smash its
prey until it can gain access to the soft tissue for consumption.
It is reported to have a "punch" of over 50 miles per hour.
This is the fastest recorded punch of any living animal.
While some aquarists value peacock shrimp for the attractive appearance,
others consider them harmful pests because they are voracious predators which eat other
desirable inhabitants of the tank.
Some of the largest specimens can break aquarium glass by striking it, and can do further damage
by burrowing in live rock.