No photo available
Harlequin shrimp
Hymenocera picta
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 210554, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Harlequin shrimp
- Scientific
- Hymenocera picta
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Shrimps
- Maximum size
- Up to about 5 cm (length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 1 to 20 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The harlequin shrimp has a white body with large pink to purple, blue-edged spots and big, flat, petal-like claws. It lives in pairs and feeds only on sea stars, which it turns over and eats alive.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=5, 4 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Hymenocera-picta.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=210554
- inaturalist.org /taxa/49718
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Harlequin_Shrimp_1.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.