---
title: Harlequin Shrimp (Hymenocera picta)
scientific_name: Hymenocera picta
common_name: Harlequin Shrimp
taxon: Shrimps
published: 2024-11-28T12:36:48.071Z
updated: 2026-08-12T10:21:44.302Z
tags: Harlequin Shrimp, Hymenocera picta, Shrimps, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/crustaceans/shrimps/harlequin-shrimp
---

# Harlequin Shrimp (*Hymenocera picta*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Shrimps (*Caridea*)
- **Size:** up to 5 cm
- **Depth:** 1-30 m
- **Diet:** Carnivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Habitat:** Reef and rubble, under ledges with a starfish in store
- **Reproduction:** Egg layer, Gonochoric

## How to recognise it

- cream body blotched with large pink-purple spots edged in blue
- flattened petal-shaped claws held out in front, far larger than the head
- flat leaf-like antennae, unlike any other shrimp here
- length up to 5 cm

Cream, blotched with pink-purple, with flattened petal-shaped claws held out in front and leaf-like antennae that belong on no other shrimp. Five centimeters (2 in) at most, and worth every minute spent looking for one.

It eats starfish, and only starfish. A pair finds one, flips it onto its back with those oversized claws - which are levers, not weapons - and starts at the arm tip, feeding on the tube feet and soft tissue while the animal is alive. A large sea star takes days, and the shrimp will drag it back under a ledge and keep it there as a living larder.

The cruelty is efficient. Starfish regenerate, so a pair that eats one arm at a time can keep a single animal alive and productive for weeks, and some have been recorded feeding a starfish to keep it going. Crown-of-thorns is on the menu too, which makes this a small ally on a reef with an outbreak.

Pairs are long-term and territorial, and they hunt by smell: the shrimp follows chemical traces of starfish across the reef. Both sexes look alike, the female is larger, and she carries the eggs under her tail until they hatch.

## Also known as

- **English:** eastern harlequin shrimp, western harlequin shrimp, harlequin shrimp
- **French:** Crevette arlequin
- **Italian:** Gamberetto arlecchino, Gambero arlecchino
- **German:** Östliche Harlekingarnele, Westliche Harlekingarnele, Harlekingarnele
- **Spanish:** Camarón arlequín
- **Portuguese:** Camarão-arlequim
- **Japanese:** フリソデエビ
- **Chinese:** 油彩臘膜蝦, 油彩蠟膜蝦
- **TH:** กุ้งการ์ตูน

## Scientific synonyms

- *Hymenocera elegans* Heller, 1861
- *Hymenocera latreillii* Sharp, 1893

## Range

Indo-Pacific, New Caledonian Exclusive Economic Zone, North Pacific Ocean, Red Sea, Seychelles, South Pacific Ocean

---

*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/crustaceans/shrimps/harlequin-shrimp)*
*Updated: August 12, 2026*