Dragon Shrimp
Miropandalus hardingi
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Subphylum
- Crustacea
- Class
- Malacostraca
- Order
- Decapoda
- Family
- Chlorotocellidae
- Genus
- Miropandalus
- Species
- Miropandalus hardingi
The dragon shrimp (Miropandalus hardingi) is a spiny, knobbly shrimp that lives on whip corals and comes in striking green and red colour forms. Its body is covered in bumps and projections that make it look like a tiny dragon.
It grows to about 2 cm. The green form matches green whip corals, while the red form lives on red or orange whips, and in both the shrimp's knobs mimic the coral's polyps. It clings to the stem of its host and feeds on mucus and particles.
In the Philippines the dragon shrimp is a much sought-after macro subject on whip corals along sandy slopes and walls. Both colour forms can be found by carefully scanning the length of each whip.