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Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp
Lysmata amboniesis
Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp are distinguished by their single white and two vibrant red thick stripes and six lengthy antennae. Many species of reef fish come to depend on this shrimp species to clean external parasites of their bodies, due to their inability to do so themselves.
Range & Habitat
The Skunk Shrimp occurs within or around reef ecosystems with ranges throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Red Sea
Conservation Status: Not Evaluated
This species has not been listed/evaluated by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Threats: Skunk Cleaner shrimp are sensitive to variations in water parameter, such as copper-based medication and thus very susceptible to drastic change in water quality by pollution. This pollution is prominently from sewage and wastewater from industrial materials including metals, solvents, and toxic sludge runoff and changing the pH and sediment levels of water. The Skunk cleaner shrimp has been heavily exploited for household aquariums which has substantially reduced their population sizes.
Diet
The Scarlet Skunk shrimp’s diet is omnivorous with a carnivorous tendency, and detritivorous. They feed upon ectoparasites, or dead tissue cells found within the body and oral cavities of fish.
Life Span
Unknown
Fun Facts about the Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp
- The Skunk cleaner shrimp and the host fish is a clear example of symbiosis. As the host fish depends upon the shrimp to be freed of parasites and possible disease, the cleaner shrimp has supplemental amount of food and protected by the host fish species. Research has indicated that inflammation is reduced when the shrimp cleans a wound on a marine species.
- The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp are hermaphrodites in which each individual is capable of carrying eggs.
Sources
Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp+ (LYSMATA AMBOINENSIS) Aquarium domain.com: Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) Species Profile : AquariumDomain.com Retrieved July 23, 2021
Alan S. June 8, 2018. Pacific Cleaner Shrimp-Facts Photographs and Video. Seaunseen: Pacific Cleaner Shrimp-Facts Photographs and Video | Seaunseen Retrieved July 23, 2021.
Updated June 13, 2023
Location:
USS Antiquities Cave
