''Ancylomenes pedersoni'', sometimes known as Pederson's shrimp and Pederson's cleaner shrimp, is a species of
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 ...
.
It is part of the genus ''
Ancylomenes
''Ancylomenes'' is a genus of shrimp, erected in 2010 to accommodate the group of species around "''Periclimenes aesopius''" (now '' Ancylomenes aesopius''). Members of the genus are widely distributed in the warm oceans of the world, and live in ...
'' and was described in 1958 by
Fenner A. Chace Jr. as ''Periclimenes pedersoni''.
''Ancylomenes pedersoni'' is found in the Caribbean Sea, often associated with a
sea anemone, at depths of . They are often found on the reefs off
Bermuda
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Description
Pederson's shrimp is a small transparent shrimp with bluish and violet markings on the body and long white
antennae and within its range is unlikely to be confused with other species.
Ecology
Pederson's shrimp lives in association with a sea anemone, either ''
Bartholomea annulata
''Bartholomea annulata'' is a species of sea anemone in the family Aiptasiidae, commonly known as the ringed anemone or corkscrew anemone. It is one of the most common anemones found on reefs in the Caribbean Sea.
Description
The ringed anemone ...
'' or ''
Condylactis gigantea'', living among the tentacles with impunity. Before it can do this it needs to acclimatise itself to the anemone by progressively pressing its body and appendages against the tentacles for increasing periods of time. After this it is able to move between the tentacles without getting stung but if it is separated from its host for a few days, it will need to repeat the immunizing procedure. Up to 26 shrimps have been found associated with one sea anemone but usually there are just one or two. The shrimp offers cleaning services to passing fish and attracts their attention by lashing its antennae about. Fish visiting the
cleaning station
A cleaning station is a location where aquatic life congregate to be cleaned by smaller creatures. Such stations exist in both freshwater and marine environments, and are used by animals including fish, sea turtles and hippos, referred to as cli ...
will remain stationary while their external
parasites
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...
are removed and eaten by the shrimp, which even cleans inside the gill covers and the mouth. If a
neon goby
''Elacatinus'' is a genus of small marine gobies, often known collectively as the neon gobies. Although only one species, ''E. oceanops'', is technically the "neon goby," because of their similar appearance, other members of the genus are genera ...
sets up a cleaning station nearby, the shrimp will clean the client fish at the same time as the goby does.
[ Researchers have shown that fish recognise the sea anemone ''Bartholomea annulata'' as being a place at which the shrimps' services are likely to be available. The larger the sea anemone, the more likely fish are to visit it.]
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3935119
Palaemonoidea
Crustaceans described in 1958
Fauna of the Caribbean
Arthropods of the Dominican Republic