Hippolytidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

cleaner shrimp Cleaner shrimp is a common name for a number of swimming decapod crustaceans, that clean other organisms of parasites. They belong to any of three families, Hippolytidae (including the Pacific cleaner shrimp, ''Lysmata amboinensis''), Palaem ...

, also known as broken-back shrimp or anemone shrimp. The term "broken-back shrimp" also applies to the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Hippolyte In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope (Amazon) , Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' Zo ...

'' in particular and "cleaner shrimp" is sometimes applied exclusively to ''

Lysmata amboinensis ''Lysmata amboinensis'' is an omnivorous shrimp species known by several common names including the Pacific cleaner shrimp. It is considered a cleaner shrimp as eating parasites and dead tissue from fish makes up a large part of its diet. The spe ...

''.

Taxonomy

As of 2009, there were 36 genera in the family: Morphological and genetic studies have recovered the Hippolytidae as

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

, prompting the recognition of Bythocariidae,

Lysmatidae Lysmatidae is a family of caridean shrimp in the order Decapoda. Genera *'' Exhippolysmata'' Stebbing, 1915Stebbing, T. R. R. (1915). South African Crustacea. Part VIII of S.A. Crustacea, for the Marine Investigations in South Africa. ''Annals ...

, Merguiidae, and Thoridae.De Grave, S, Li, C.P., Tsang L.M., Chu K.H., Chan T.-Y. (2014). Unweaving hippolytoid systematics (Crustacea, Decapoda, Hippolytidae): resurrection of several families. Zoologica Scripta, 43, 496–507. , the following genera are included in Hippolytidae ''sensu stricto'' in the

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialist ...

References

Decapod families {{Caridea-stub