Zanzibar Shrimp

Dasycaris zanzibarica

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Palaemonidae
Genus: Dasycaris
Species: Dasycaris zanzibarica

The Zanzibar shrimp (Dasycaris zanzibarica) is a tiny shrimp with a hairy, bumpy body that lives on sea whips and sea pens. Its colour varies with its host, from white and yellow to red or purple, often with bands.

It is only about 1 cm long and lies along its host with its legs tucked in, so that it looks like part of the coral. It feeds on particles and mucus from its host and is rarely seen away from it.

In the Philippines this shrimp is found on whip corals and sea pens on sandy and rubble slopes. Searching slowly along the stems is the best way to find it.

Photo: Justin Philbois, CC0 1.0, via iNaturalist