One of the most amazing creatures that live in coral reefs is the emperor shrimp. It lives on sea cucumbers as well as colorful nudibranch clams.

Appearance and behavior

Emperor prawns have the unusual ability to change the color according to the animal they live on. It happens that individuals of the same species have a completely different color.

The size of an adult Emperor shrimp measures up to two centimetres from head to tail. You can often see a couple on nudibranch molluscs: one male and one female. They can be easily identified by their orange sides, white back with tiny orange dots, and orange, purple-tipped claws.

Although these shrimps are a couple, when two shrimps live on the same host, they often fight over who gets the available food first.

It is beneficial for a shrimp to live on the back of its owner. It can move with him, which provides it with protection from numerous ocean predators on the reef. If the shrimp feels danger, or any potential predators appear, it can hide unnoticed, disappearing under its host.

This relationship benefits the host, as the shrimp consumes any parasites on its skin. This provides it with an additional source of food.

Habitat

Emperor shrimps are common all over the Indo-Pacific region. They tend to be found anywhere their hosts can be found, such as on slopes and reef flats, or in lagoons and bays. They live on the seabed, because they like to find their food among the sand or substrate on the ocean floor. 

Is it possible to keep emperor prawns in a home aquarium?

These unusual shrimps can be kept as pets in a home marine or reef aquarium. They will, however, need to be kept with an appropriate host, such as a nudibranch, sea cucumber.

They do not need a lot of space, so the size of the aquarium will be determined by the size and space requirements of the host. Avoid housing them with any of their natural predators, such as larger fish species.