Marble Shrimp

Saron marmoratus

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Hippolytidae
Genus: Saron
Species: Saron marmoratus

The marble shrimp (Saron marmoratus) is a stocky, mottled shrimp with tufts of hair-like filaments, best known as a nocturnal reef wanderer. Its marbled pattern of green, brown, red and white helps it vanish against algae-covered rock.

It can reach about 4-6 cm. Males have very long first claws, while females are more compact. By day it hides in crevices, and at night it forages over the reef for algae, detritus and small invertebrates.

Marble shrimps are regularly seen on night dives across the Philippines, where their glowing eyes often give them away in the torch beam.