Classification:
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Scientific Name: Lysmata debelius
Common Name: Fire Shrimp
Class: Malacostraca
Scientific Name: Lysmata debelius
Common Name: Fire Shrimp
General Characteristics:
The Fire Shrimp is a species of cleaner shrimp that was first described in 1983. Fire Shrimp can grow up to 3cm long. Tehy have a bright red body with long, thin antennae white in coloration. They also have white tips on their third-fifth pereiopods. They have a pair of large pincers in place of their front-most pairs of walking legs that are adapted to clean parasites and dead tissues from willing species of coral reef fish. The Fire Shrimp are hermaphroditic and any two individuals may mate. In order to grow, the Fire Shrimp will moult in cycles similar to other cleaner shrimp species.
Habitat:
The Fire Shrimp is indigenous to the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific region. They can be found hiding under rocky outcrops and small cracks and crevices.
Importance to Humans:
The Fire Shrimp is popular in the marine aquarium trade.
Sources:
"Fire Shrimp". Blue Zoo Aquatics. Retrieved from: http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=2&cid=84&pid=1219.