Boschma's Gorgonian Shrimp

Hamodactylus boschmai

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Palaemonidae
Genus: Hamodactylus
Species: Hamodactylus boschmai

Boschma's gorgonian shrimp (Hamodactylus boschmai) is a tiny shrimp that lives on gorgonian sea fans, colour-matched to its host. It is often pink, red or orange with pale markings that imitate the gorgonian's polyps.

Only around 1 cm long, it holds onto the branches with hooked legs, a feature typical of the genus. It feeds on mucus and particles and spends its life on a single gorgonian colony.

Sea fans on walls and slopes in the Philippines can host this shrimp. A slow, close look along the branches is needed to separate it from the polyps around it.

Photo: Justin Philbois, CC0 1.0, via iNaturalist