Clear Cleaner Shrimp

Urocaridella antonbruunii, also known as the clear cleaner shrimp or red-white cleaner shrimp, is a species of shrimp that belongs to the family Palaemonidae. It was first described by A. J. Bruce in 1967 and is considered one of the species known for its cleaning abilities.

This particular species can be found in the Western Central Indo-Pacific region, ranging from 🇲🇻 Maldives to 🇹🇭 Thailand, 🇮🇩 Indonesia, 🇵🇭 Philippines, 🇹🇼 Taiwan, Papua-🇵🇬 New Guinea, 🇫🇯 Fiji, and Hawaii. They inhabit tropical shallow waters within coral reef environments, typically at depths of 2 to 66 meters (7 to 217 feet). These shrimps are commonly found on their preferred hosts.

Urocaridella antonbruunii can grow up to a body length of approximately 25-30 mm (0.98-1.18 in). Similar to other species in the Urocaridella genus, they have long rostrums that curve upwards, transparent bodies, and distinctive red and yellow spots on their carapace and abdomen. The internal organs are visibly transparent, providing effective camouflage. The abdomen forms a characteristic right angle with a red spot followed by a white spot. Their antennae are long and transparent, but unlike many other cleaning shrimp species, they are not white. The swimming legs, or pereiopods, are banded in red and white. The shrimp display rapid movement of the pleopods located under their abdomen to propel themselves towards client fish, giving the appearance of hovering.

Urocaridella antonbruunii is gonochoric, meaning they have distinct male and female individuals. These shrimps commonly engage in a precopulatory courtship ritual. Their cleaning behavior involves removing external parasites from client fish. Interestingly, they have been observed cleaning sleeping rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus at night, which is a behavior previously unreported in other shrimp species. These shrimps also demonstrate stereotypical behavior to attract potential clients, positioning themselves conspicuously near their cleaning station when a potential client fish is nearby. They primarily feed on parasites and mucus found on the host during cleaning sessions, but they also capture copepods, small microorganisms, and debris on the seafloor.