Peppermint Shrimp

Care at a glance

Overview

A cheap, hardy, peaceful scavenger best known as natural Aiptasia control. It does well in groups and is fully compatible with fish, corals, and other inverts. If underfed it may occasionally pick at LPS such as open brain corals or acans, so keep it well fed. Keep it away from shrimp-eating predators.

In the wild

A Western Atlantic and Caribbean species that lives among rock, rubble, and reef crevices, often in small groups. In the aquarium it wants lots of live rock with caves and overhangs to shelter in during the day. It is most active at dusk and after lights out, coming out to scavenge across the rockwork and sand.

Good to know

Like other Lysmata, it is a simultaneous hermaphrodite, so groups pair and breed readily. It is one of the few reef inverts that will eat Aiptasia (glass anemones), preferring small to medium pest anemones. Note that true L. wurdemanni is frequently confused with several near-identical Lysmata species sold under the same trade name, and Aiptasia appetite varies between them.

Did you know

It is the go-to natural cure for an Aiptasia outbreak: a small group will hunt down and eat glass anemones that chemical treatments struggle to fully clear.

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