Banded cleaner fish (Stenopus hispidus) from the Dampier Archipelago (Photo: Andrew Hosie)
Detail of posterior end of abdomen and tail of Stenopus hispidus (Photo: Andrew Hosie)

Banded cleaner shrimp

Stenopus hispidus

This shrimp is commonly seen by SCUBA divers on Australian coral reefs. It is banded orange/red and white with purple armpits. The common name derives from its habit of establishing cleaning stations where they remove parasites and dead tissue from fish.

Morphology

The carapace, abdomen and third legs (larger chelipeds) are spiny and banded red and white, occasionally with tinges of purple. It has two pairs of long antennae and the carpus (third segment) of the fourth and fifth pairs of legs have multiple segments. Body length can reach 90mm.

Behaviour

Occurs on shallow subtidal rocky and coral reefs, generally found in pairs at entrances of small caves or crevices.

Method of reproduction

Sexual

Habitat

Marine

This species is a common inhabitant of coral reefs.

Distribution

It has a pan-tropical distribution, in Australia it is found from Rottnest Island to south NSW

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Subclass: Eumalacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Stenopodidea
Family: Stenopodidae
Genus: Stenopus
Species: hispidus
Name Published Year: 1811
Scientific Name Authorship: Olivier
Commercial Impact: 

This species is targeted by the aquarium trade

Conservation Assessment: Data Deficient

Net Conservation Benefits Fund

Share
Facebook Twitter

Cite this page
Western Australian Museum Collections https://museum.wa.gov.au/online-collections/names/Stenopus-hispidus
Accessed 16 May 2024

Rights
We support the open release of data and information about our collections.

Text content on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Image content on this page is copyright WA Museum.