Fire shrimp

Care at a glance

The fire shrimp is deep red with white spots and white antennae, making it one of the most colourful invertebrates you can put in a reef tank. Like the cleaner shrimp it services fish, though more hesitantly and more often from the shade.

Do not expect to see much of it at first: it is shy and most active at night, spending the day in a crevice with only its antennae showing. As it settles in it ventures further out. Two animals can form a pair, but individuals that do not accept each other will fight; in that case it is better not to introduce them together. Copper is lethal, even in traces.

Good to know

• Active at night

Best not combined with

• Harlequin tuskfishChoerodon fasciatus
• Zebra lionfishDendrochirus zebra
• Picasso triggerfishRhinecanthus aculeatus
• Snowflake eelEchidna nebulosa
• Ribbon eelRhinomuraena quaesita
• Clown triggerfishBalistoides conspicillum
• Volitans lionfishPterois volitans
• Fuzzy dwarf lionfishDendrochirus brachypterus
• Coral banded shrimpStenopus hispidus
• Green brittle starOphiarachna incrassata
• Peacock mantis shrimpOdontodactylus scyllarus

Related species

• Peppermint shrimpLysmata wurdemanni
• Turbo snailTurbo fluctuosus
• Hermit crab (red leg)Clibanarius sp.
• Sexy shrimpThor amboinensis
• Cleaner shrimpLysmata amboinensis
• Coral banded shrimpStenopus hispidus