Basket Star Shrimp

Lipkemenes lanipes

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Palaemonidae
Genus: Lipkemenes
Species: Lipkemenes lanipes

The basket star shrimp (Lipkemenes lanipes) is a slender, translucent shrimp that lives among the coiled arms of basket stars. Its glassy body is lined with fine colour that matches its host's branching arms.

It grows to about 1-2 cm and stays with its basket star day and night. During the day the host is tightly curled, and at night when the basket star unfurls to feed, the shrimp moves along its arms picking up food particles.

In the Philippines this shrimp is best seen on night dives, when basket stars spread their arms over gorgonians and reef tops. A careful look along the arms with a dim torch can reveal it.

Photo: Kai Squires, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist