Shrimps in Indonesia

Harlequin shrimp with its blue spots

Shrimps in Indonesia

Shrimps in Indonesia come in all shapes, sizes, colours and forms. There is a wide range of amazing shrimps that can be found while scuba diving. Coralia Liveaboard can take you on cruises all over Indonesia. We can find you some of these magnificent shrimps!

This article is more like a gallery of shrimps. Because what can we say about shrimps, except they are totally wonderful and fun to see! We will show you some of the more common shrimps. Plus the weird and wonderful ones that are a bit harder to find and rarer to see!

Squat Shrimp

Squat shrimp sitting inside a white anemone spotted while scuba diving

Squat shrimps (Thor amboinensis) are a fairly common sight in Indonesia. They constantly wiggle their bums and so are also known as sexy shrimp! They live on corals, sea anemones and other marine invertebrates.

Durban Dancing Shrimp

Durban dancing shrimps in Indonesia with Coralia Liveaboard

One of our favourites. They really do dance! Durban dancing shrimps (Rhynchocinetes durbanensis) are also known as the hingebeak prawn. Look on ledges and inside crevices to watch a whole troupe of them dance!

Banded Coral Shrimp

Banded coral shrimp in Indonesia with Coralia Liveaboard

Banded coral shimps (Stenopus hispidus) are so called due to their colourful red and white bands. They are a type of cleaner shrimp. They have three pairs of claws to clean parasites, fungi and damaged tissue from fish. You can find them in holes and cracks, close to where fish might be requiring a cleaning service.

Emperor Shrimp

Emperor shrimp on a coral discovered while scuba diving

Emperor shrimps (Periclimenes imperator) live in a commensal relationship with their host. This is when one species benefits, while the other neither benefits nor takes harm. It is a long-term biological interaction. We most often see these shrimps hitching a ride on nudibranchs or sea cucumbers.

Anemone Shrimp

Sarasvati anemone shrimps in Indonesia with Coralia Liveaboard

We can find these little anemone shrimps (Periclimenes sarasvati) living alongside anemone fish. They are cleaner shrimps like the banded coral shrimp. They are fun to watch as they bounce and wiggle around the edges and on the tips of the anemone.

Zanzibar Whip Coral Shrimp

Zanzibar whip coral shrimps in Indonesia with Coralia Liveaboard

Even though this Zanzibar whip coral shrimp (Dasycaris zanzibarica) looks like it might be difficult to find, it is actually quite common. When you see a nice long whip coral, take a look along its whole length, you might find a little shrimp or two living there.

Harlequin Shrimp

A large and a small Harlequin shrimp next to each other underwater

Now we are getting to the more rare shrimps! Harlequin shrimps (Hymenocera picta) are probably one of the most beautiful shrimps you will see underwater. But they are quite elusive and difficult to find. You will often see these shrimps sitting on or near a sea star. This is because they eat sea stars!

Coleman Shrimp

Coleman shrimp in Indonesia with Coralia Liveaboard

Coleman shrimps (Periclimenes colemani) have a unique symbiotic relationship with the colourful fire sea urchin. They are only found on this type of sea urchin (Asthenosoma varium). The urchin has venom tipped spines but they do not harm the shrimps. Coleman shrimps often occur in pairs.

Algae Shrimp

Algae shrimp in Indonesia with Coralia Liveaboard

Algae shrimps (Phycocaris simulans) are also known as hairy shrimps. You can see why! They are so tiny, not bigger than a piece of fluff! They resemble floating bits of algae. You can find them in a variety of colours – reddish pink, brown, green or yellow. You will probably need a dive guide to show you one of these teeny tiny shrimps!

Dragon Shrimp

Dragon shrimp sitting on the branch of a coral

Dragon shrimps (Miropandalus hardingi) have amazing protruding ‘scales’, looking like a dragon. They usually live on whip corals but are quite rare to find.

Leopard Anemone Shrimp

white leopard anemone shrimp with its black spots as a perfect camouflage

Our final shrimp is probably the rarest and hardest to find. Leopard anemone shrimps (Izucaris masudai) have an extremely good camouflage. The markings on their bodies match exactly the leopard anemone. These leopard anemones are colonial sea anemones. A beautiful shrimp and a very special find.

Observe Shrimps in Indonesia Live with Coralia

Join Coralia Liveaboard and our eagle-eyed dive guides will find you some shrimps. Maybe some of the above and probably more!

Please have a look at our cruise schedule and if there is anything we can help you with, feel free to contact us. We look forward to your message!

If you would like to see videos of the fascinating marine life in Indonesia and Coralia herself, subscribe to Coralia’s YouTube channel here.