Banded Hairy Shrimp

Phycocaris sp.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Hippolytidae
Genus: Phycocaris
Species: Phycocaris sp.

The banded hairy shrimp (Phycocaris sp.) is a tiny, fuzzy shrimp marked with alternating light and dark bands across its body. Like other hairy shrimps, it is covered in fine setae that trap algae and debris.

It is only a few millimetres long and has not been formally described. It clings to algae, hydroids and rubble and rocks gently with the surge, feeding on tiny particles caught in its hairs.

In the Philippines it is a classic muck-diving find on algae-covered rubble, usually spotted only by sharp-eyed guides or with the help of a magnifier.