Anton Bruun's cleaner shrimp

This species is widely distributed across the tropical Indo-Pacific. It is commonly found along the coasts of East Africa, the Red Sea, the Seychelles, Indonesia, the Philippines, up to Hawaii and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It primarily inhabits marine caves, rocky crevices, and shaded reef walls at depths between 2 and 40 meters.

Belonging to the family Palaemonidae, Urocaridella antonbruunii is a small species of cleaner shrimp. It features a slender, highly transparent body with a long, upward-curved rostrum lined with small teeth. Its legs are extremely thin and delicate, adapted for picking parasites. It reaches an adult size of about 3-4 centimeters.

It is a social and gregarious species that lives in small groups within established cleaning stations. It exhibits a unique hovering behavior, swaying side to side to attract passing fish. When a fish approaches and signals readiness, the shrimp climbs onto its body to pick off parasites and dead skin.

The body is almost entirely glass-like and transparent, marked with small red and yellow dots forming thin lines, and white patches on the leg joints. This transparency provides camouflage from predators while remaining recognizable to host fish. Mature females are slightly larger than males and carry eggs under their abdomen.

Requires a mature marine aquarium of at least 80 liters. The setup must feature shaded areas, caves, and rocky overhangs where the shrimp can establish its cleaning station. It is important that the water flow in these areas is moderate rather than turbulent, allowing the shrimp to hover and display naturally.

In addition to feeding on fish parasites, it must be offered fine frozen foods in the aquarium, such as copepods, baby brine shrimp, chopped mysis, and lobster eggs. It will also scavenge for high-quality micro-pellets that reach the bottom. Feed once daily, ensuring food reaches its shaded retreat.

Requires stable, high-quality marine water: temperature between 24°C and 26°C, pH range from 8.1 to 8.4, specific gravity from 1.020 to 1.025, and KH between 8 and 12 dKH. It is highly sensitive to copper treatments (which are fatal) and requires proper iodine levels in the water to support successful molting.

Completely reef safe and harmless to corals. It coexists peacefully with most reef fish, which actively seek out its cleaning services. However, due to its small size and fragile structure, it must never be housed with predatory fish like groupers, hawkfish, lionfish, or large wrasses that will eat it.

Breeding in captivity is exceptionally difficult. Although females carry fertilized eggs under their tails until they hatch, the released larvae enter a highly delicate planktonic stage. They require microscopic live foods and are easily swept away and destroyed by standard aquarium filtration systems.

The main risk is associated with the molting process. If iodine, calcium, or magnesium levels are depleted, the shrimp can fail to shed its old exoskeleton and die. Sudden changes in salinity or temperature can also cause fatal osmotic shock. Slow acclimation using the drip method is mandatory.