page_title: Lysmata amboinensis
section_title: Behaviour
hierarchical_section_title: Lysmata amboinensis / Behaviour
caption_attribution_description: Morays and cleaner shrimp with miscellanous fish at Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique
context_page_description: Lysmata amboinensis is an omnivorous shrimp species known by several common names including the Pacific cleaner shrimp. It is considered a cleaner shrimp as eating parasites and dead tissue from fish makes up a large part of its diet. The species is a natural part of the coral reef ecosystem and is widespread across the tropics typically living at depths of 5–40 metres.
  L. amboinensis can reach a body length of 5–6 centimetres and have long white antennae. Mature shrimp are pale in colour with longitudinal bands on their carapace; one central white band with wider scarlet red bands on either side. The shrimp has a long larval stage and unusual sexual maturation, initially being male but becoming a functional hermaphrodite once mature.
  L. amboinensis is popular in home and public aquaria where it is commonly referred to as the skunk cleaner shrimp; this is due to its striking colours, peaceful nature, and useful symbiotic cleaning relationship which can also be witnessed in captivity.
context_section_description: Lysmata amboinesis do not live in large groups, more often in pairs, and while omnivorous it is believed they derive much of their nutrition from cleaning parasites and dead tissue from fish. Their mating behaviour has been observed in captivity where it involves little ritual: a pair of fully mature hermaphroditic shrimp will alternate moulting timing, mating occurs shortly following a moult when one shrimp acting as the male will follow the other acting as the female which will brood the fertilised eggs; when the next shrimp moults the roles, and therefore apparent sex, will reverse.
  In captivity L. amboinesis have been seen to be socially monogamous showing such aggression that if they are kept in groups of more than 2 individuals one pair will kill the rest. While they are not generally seen in large groups in the wild it is unknown if they are socially monogamous in their natural environment.
caption: A pair of L. amboinesis live together with a moray eel
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