Peppermint shrimp

Care at a glance

The peppermint shrimp is bought almost exclusively for one reason: it eats aiptasia, the glass anemone that multiplies unchecked in a reef tank. It works well on small, young aiptasia, and it is an approach that reaches everywhere a syringe cannot.

With a caveat: not every animal eats them, and large specimens are often left alone. So buy a group of three or more and do not feed too generously at first, otherwise there is no reason to go to work. Watch the species — Lysmata wurdemanni is regularly confused with species that do not do the job. They are shy and mainly active at night.

Good to know

• Active at night

Best not combined with

• Flame hawkfishNeocirrhites armatus
• Falco hawkfishCirrhitichthys falco
• Harlequin tuskfishChoerodon fasciatus
• Miniatus grouper (coral hind)Cephalopholis miniata
• Green brittle starOphiarachna incrassata
• Sally lightfoot crabPercnon gibbesi
• Berghia nudibranch (aiptasia eater)Berghia stephanieae

Related species

• Fire shrimpLysmata debelius
• Sexy shrimpThor amboinensis
• Coral banded shrimpStenopus hispidus
• Turbo snailTurbo fluctuosus
• Camel shrimpRhynchocinetes durbanensis
• Hermit crab (red leg)Clibanarius sp.