''Urocaridella antonbruunii'', common names clear cleaner shrimp or red-white cleaner shrimp, is a species of

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

belonging to the family

Palaemonidae Palaemonidae is a family of shrimp in the order Decapoda. Many species are carnivores that eat small invertebrates, and can be found in any aquatic habitat except the deep sea. One significant genus is ''Macrobrachium'', which contains commerc ...

. It was described by A. J. Bruce in 1967. It is one of the species that are known as

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 ...

Distribution and habitat

This species has a wide distribution throughout the Western Central

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, from

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Papua-New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

up to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

These shrimps occur in tropical shallow waters in coral reef environment, at depths of , where they can found their preferred hosts.Sealife Base
/ref>

Description

''Urocaridella antonbruunii'' can reach a body length of about . Like the other species of the genus ''

Urocaridella ''Urocaridella'' is a genus of shrimps comprising the following species: *''Urocaridella antonbruunii'' *''Urocaridella cyrtorhyncha'' *''Urocaridella degravei'' *''Urocaridella liui'' *''Urocaridella pulchella'' *''Urocaridella urocaridella ...

'', have very long rostrums curved upwards, transparent bodies, and numerous brightly-coloured red and yellow spots on the carapace and abdomen. Internal organs clearly visible. The translucency provides an effective form of

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

. The abdomen forms a characteristic right angle where there is a red spot preceded by a white spot. The antennae are long and transparent, but are not white, as is the case in many species of cleaning shrimp. The

pereiopod The decapod (crustaceans such as a crab, lobster, shrimp or prawn) is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various g ...

s (swimming legs) are banded in red and white. The

pleopod The decapod ( crustaceans such as a crab, lobster, shrimp or prawn) is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various ...

s under the abdomen are beaten rapidly to move the shrimp towards the client fish, making the shrimp appear to hover.

Biology and behaviour

''Urocaridella antonbruunii'' is

gonochoric In biology, gonochorism is a sexual system where there are only two sexes and each individual organism is either male or female. The term gonochorism is usually applied in animal species, the vast majority of which are gonochoric. Gonochorism c ...

. Commonly these shrimps perform a precopulatory courtship ritual. They are

s, because of their habit of removing external parasites from client fish. This is the first shrimp reported cleaning sleeping

rabbitfish Rabbitfishes or spinefoots are perciform fishes in the family Siganidae. The 29 species are in a single genus, ''Siganus''. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having prominent face stripes—colloquially called foxfaces– ...

''Siganus canaliculatus'' at night. These

s also exhibit stereotypical behaviour to attract their clients. They positions themselves in a conspicuous location near their cleaning station when a potential client is nearby. They feed on parasites and mucus that they find on the host during the cleaning sessions but also captures copepods, small microorganisms and debris on the bottom.

Bibliography

*Bruce, A.J., 1967b. Notes on some Indo-Pacific Pontoniinae III-IX. Descriptions of some new genera and species from the western Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.— Zoologische Verhandelingen 87: 1-73. *Liu, R., X. Liang & S. Yan. (1990). A study of the Palaemoninae (Crustacea Decapoda) from China I. Macrobrachium, Leander and Leandrites

n Chinese N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Transactions of the Chinese Crustacean Society. 2, 102-134 *Fransen, C. H. J. M. (1994). Marine palaemonoid shrimps of the Netherlands Seychelles Expedition 1992 1993. Zoologische Verhandelingen. 297: 85-152 *De Grave, S. & C.H.J.M. Fransen. (2011). Carideorum catalogus: the recent species of the dendrobranchiate, stenopodidean, procarididean and caridean shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda). Zool. Med. Leiden. 85(9): 30.ix.2011: 195-589 figs 1-59

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3933825 Palaemonidae Crustaceans of the Indian Ocean Crustaceans of the Pacific Ocean Crustaceans described in 1967 Articles containing video clips