🦐 Harlequin Shrimp (Hymenocera picta)
A Cream-White Body Overlaid With Bold Blue-Purple Spots • An Obligate Starfish Predator, Needing an Ongoing Live Supply • Fascinating Cooperative Pair Hunting Behaviour
 
📋 This species is an obligate predator of starfish and will eat nothing else, no pellets, no mysis, no frozen foods, regardless of hunger. Its entire natural diet consists of echinoderms, and in captivity that means a steady, ongoing supply of live starfish is essential. A mature pair typically consumes around 2-3 medium starfish per week, and while smaller pest starfish like Asterina, common hitchhikers on live rock, can help offset this, most keepers need to regularly source additional starfish, such as chocolate chip stars, specifically as feeder stock. This is a real long-term commitment, realistically years, not weeks, and we recommend it only with a reliable feeding plan already in place. Promptly remove decaying starfish remains, since most cleanup crews won't finish the job.
The Harlequin Shrimp is one of the most visually striking invertebrates in the marine hobby, instantly recognisable by its cream-white body overlaid with bold blue-purple spots ringed in pink-orange, moving with a slow, deliberate gait quite unlike most reef shrimp.
It comes from coral rubble and reef crevices across the Indo-Pacific, from Hawaii through to the Red Sea and East Africa, typically found living in bonded pairs, tucked into rockwork between meals. Every Harlequin Shrimp we ship is feeding well.
For keepers who can commit to this feeding routine, Harlequin Shrimp reward you with a fascinating, cooperative hunting display and one of the most striking colour patterns in the hobby. It reaches 4-5cm, so a 40-75L tank suits a pair well.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Iconic Harlequin Pattern: Bold blue-purple spots ringed in pink-orange
⭐ Obligate Starfish Predator: Will eat nothing else; a real long-term feeding commitment
🪸 Reef Safe With One Exception: Safe with corals and fish, but will eat any starfish in the tank
💑 Fascinating Pair Behaviour: Often kept and observed as a bonded male-female pair
🧠 Advanced Specialist Only: Requires a reliable ongoing starfish supply from the outset