Peppermint Shrimp

With its red and white body reminiscent of a candy cane, the Peppermint Shrimp is aptly named. They are also less excitingly known as the Caribbean Cleaner Shrimp or the Veined Shrimp. This shrimp has a pinkish body with dark red and white stripes running laterally. Its legs and antennae also tend to be a darker shade of red. It is sometimes confused with the camel shrimp, which is native to Indonesia.

The Peppermint Shrimp is found on coral reefs of the Caribbean and the Florida coast. In the wild they are most often found in the caves and crevices of the reef, which they use as a homebase for their tireless scavenging of the reef in search of meaty foods. Since it is a cleaner shrimp, it will sometimes set up a cleaning station where, in exchange for an easy meal, the Peppermint Shrimp will clean parasites and dead tissue off of reef fish. While they sometimes display this type of behaviour in a home aquarium they are not as reliable cleaners as the Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp.

What separates the Peppermint Shrimp from all other cleaner shrimps is its willingness to consume aiptasia. The invasive aiptasia has few natural predators so a relatively small, reef safe, colourful invertebrate who will help manage it is a welcome addition to a home aquarium. As a true scavenger, the Peppermint Shrimp will consume leftover meaty foods and pellets and aiptasia as well as feeding off the fish that they clean. If necessary, their diets can be supplemented with chopped squid or pellets. This aiptasia eating scavenger makes a colourful and reef safe addition to any home aquarium.