Cleaner Shrimp

Lysmata amboinensis

The cleaner shrimp, Lysmata amboinensis, is a small Indo-Pacific reef shrimp widely known in aquariums as the skunk cleaner shrimp or scarlet cleaner shrimp. It has a bright red body with a white dorsal stripe, long white antennae, and a habit of setting up cleaning stations where reef fishes may allow it to pick off parasites, dead tissue, or food debris. Like several Lysmata species, it is a functional simultaneous hermaphrodite as an adult, and pairs may both produce eggs after molting.

Marine aquarists value this shrimp for its behavior as much as its color, but it still needs stable reef conditions. Slow acclimation, steady salinity, good water quality, rockwork for shelter, and a copper-free system are important. It will usually accept small meaty foods and prepared marine diets, so it should not be expected to live only on fish parasites. Most individuals are peaceful with reef fishes, though very predatory tankmates may eat them. Breeding in home aquaria is possible at the egg-carrying stage, but raising the planktonic larvae requires separate rearing methods and fine live foods.