TankBud

Gold coral banded shrimp

Stenopus scutellatus

Also known as Golden Coral Shrimp, Yellow Coral Banded Shrimp, Caribbean Boxing Shrimp

SaltwaterShrimp

Gold coral banded shrimp (Stenopus scutellatus)
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Care at a glance

Temperature
75–81°F
24–27°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
1.6 in
4 cm
Minimum tank
11 gal
40 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Own kind
One male per tank
Tankmates
With caution
Swim level
Bottom
Difficulty
Easy
Breeding
Hard
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe with caution
Family
Stenopodidae
Origin
Western Atlantic and Caribbean (Florida to northern Brazil)

Overview

The gold coral banded shrimp is a shy boxer shrimp for a reef tank with plenty of hiding places. It is easy to keep.

Did you know

The gold coral banded shrimp is often mixed up in the trade with the similarly named Indo-Pacific gold-banded coral shrimp, Stenopus zanzibaricus. The two come from opposite sides of the world and are not the same animal.

Caring for the gold coral banded shrimp

Keep the gold coral banded shrimp in at least 11 gal (40 L). Like any Stenopus, it wants plenty of live rock with ledges and crevices it can claim as its own. It is smaller and shyer than Stenopus hispidus, often staying tucked in its crevice. It picks at food from just inside the entrance instead of venturing out.

Keep the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. It is a capable scavenger and an occasional fish cleaner, picking parasites and dead tissue off willing fish. A wild-caught specimen often arrives missing a claw, which grows back over a few molts.

The gold coral banded shrimp is reef safe with caution. It leaves coral alone but is territorial, and it will fight other Stenopus and sometimes other shrimp species too. Fights are most likely in a small tank without enough separate hiding spots.

Keep it singly or as an already established mated pair. In a pair, the male runs smaller and darker than the female. Breeding them is hard.

Good to know

The gold coral banded shrimp is a true boxer shrimp in the family Stenopodidae. It shares that family with the common red and white banded coral shrimp. It has a yellow body and carapace, long white antennae, and an enlarged third pair of walking legs barred in red and white.

In the wild

The gold coral banded shrimp is a Western Atlantic species, found from Bermuda and Florida through the Bahamas and Caribbean to northern Brazil. It usually lives on reefs, in caves and among rubble, at depths of about 10 to 113 m.

Common questions

What size tank does a gold coral banded shrimp need?

A gold coral banded shrimp needs at least 11 gal (40 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

What temperature and pH does a gold coral banded shrimp need?

A gold coral banded shrimp is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a gold coral banded shrimp eat?

A gold coral banded shrimp is a capable scavenger. It also cleans fish now and then, picking parasites and dead tissue off willing fish.

How big does a gold coral banded shrimp get?

An adult gold coral banded shrimp reaches about 1.6 in (4 cm).

How can you tell a male gold coral banded shrimp from a female?

Males run smaller and darker than females.

Related species