Crustaceans
Harlequin Shrimp
Hymenocera picta · Crustacean — family Palaemonidae; a sea-star-eating specialist shrimp
Harlequin shrimp look painted for a festival and live like specialists on a dare: they eat sea stars, only sea stars, and work in mated pairs to do it. A pair — porcelain white splashed with mauve-blue in the Pacific form — finds a star by scent, grips an arm, and levers the whole animal over to reach the tube feet, then walks it back toward the burrow. Feeding starts at the arm tips, and stars often survive long enough to regrow or escape; pairs have been seen keeping a Linckia alive as a larder. Territories are tiny and stable, so once a site's guides know a pair, sightings stay dependable for months. At two knuckles long they demand a slow search of rubble undercuts. Resist any urge to deliver a star for the camera — staged feedings are manipulation, not luck.
Where and when to see one
"Resident" means most dives at that destination encounter them; "seasonal" means reliably present in the listed months; anything else is a bonus, not a plan.
| Destination | Reliability | Months | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bali & Nusa PenidaIndonesia | Occasional | Year-round | |
| Kona, HawaiʻiUnited States | Occasional | Year-round | |
| Lembeh StraitIndonesia | Occasional | Year-round | |
| AnilaoPhilippines | Occasional | Year-round | |
| Dumaguete, Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines | Occasional | Year-round |
Best month, at a glance
Understanding them
Habitat: Rubble undercuts, boulder gaps, and coral crevices on reefs and muck margins, in small, stable territories.
Range: Indo-Pacific from East Africa to Hawaii and the eastern Pacific fringe; Pacific animals wear mauve-blue blotches, Indian Ocean animals more purple-red.
Behavior: Lives in monogamous pairs that locate stars by scent, lever them over to reach the tube feet, and feed from the arm tips over days; territories stay stable for months.
Diet: Sea stars exclusively, from Linckia to juvenile crown-of-thorns; pairs sometimes keep a star as a living larder.
Size: typically around 0.04 m; documented up to 0.05 m (body length).
How to behave around one
Never collect a sea star and drop it in front of a pair to stage a feeding photo — moving animals to bait behavior is manipulation, and known pairs get enough attention as it is.
Conservation
Not formally assessed; aquarium collection is the main direct pressure, and its prey-specialist lifestyle ties it to healthy sea-star populations.
Charted sites known for them
Watch
From the official channels
Best Places to Dive with Whale Sharks
Outrageously Tiny Fish
Sink or Swim? with Monét X Change | Monterey Bay Aquarium
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