Harlequin shrimp

Care at a glance

The harlequin shrimp is white with large purple-blue spots and broad, leaf-shaped claws, and is one of the most beautiful shrimp on the reef. Its menu, however, consists of exactly one thing: starfish, which it turns over and eats alive, arm by arm.

That means you must arrange a supply of starfish in advance; a steady source of small pest starfish or cultured ones is essential. Keep it as a pair in a calm reef tank and do not add large starfish you actually want to keep.

Good to know

• Hard to wean onto dry food
• Preys on shrimp and snails

Best not combined with

• Sand sifting starfishAstropecten polyacanthus
• Brittle starOphiuroidea sp.
• Green brittle starOphiarachna incrassata
• Chocolate chip starfishProtoreaster nodosus
• Blue Linckia starfishLinckia laevigata
• Fromia starfish (orange marble)Fromia monilis
• Archaster sand starArchaster typicus
• Red African starfishProtoreaster linckii
• Indian sea starFromia indica
• Spotted Linckia starfishLinckia multifora
• Luzon starfishEchinaster luzonicus
• Doughboy starfishChoriaster granulatus
• Cushion starCulcita novaeguineae

Related species

• Pistol shrimp (randalli)Alpheus randalli
• Saron shrimpSaron marmoratus
• Camel shrimpRhynchocinetes durbanensis
• Emerald crabMithraculus sculptus
• Coral banded shrimpStenopus hispidus
• Porcelain anemone crabNeopetrolisthes maculatus