in addition to levi stats:
Harlequin shrimp
Hymenocera picta
These beautiful shrimps have a very specific diet: starfish. Upon finding their prey, they will overturn it to dine on the starfish's delicate tube feet.
Statistics
These are small shrimps, typically 2-5cm (1-2in) in length.
Distribution
They are Indo-Pacific.
Habitat
They live on coral reefs.
Diet
Harlequin shrimps eat starfish. They feed on the tube feet and will occasionally take whole starfish many times larger then themselves. They also feed on sea urchins.
Behaviour
Harlequin shrimps detect their prey using scent. They locate a starfish and prize its arms from the rock. The male and female shrimp overturn the starfish together to disable it. This allows them to feed on its delicate tube feet starting at the tips and working inwards. Sometimes they will take the starfish into a dark recess where they can continue to feed for several days. Some even feed the starfish prey, keeping it alive so that they can dine on it later.
Their extraordinary coloration may serve as a warning to possible predators. It is thought that the shrimps incorporate toxins from their prey, making them bad tasting or potentially dangerous to eat.
Reproduction
Harlequin shrimps are fairly rare. When they encounter a mate, they stay together for life forming monogamous, often territorial, pairs. They mate shortly after the female's moult. The female produces between 100 and 5,000 eggs per season which she tends and cleans until they hatch.
Conservation status
These shrimp are rare and suffer as a result of coral reef damage.
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