Cleaner shrimp (Lysmata grabhami)

Classification (WoRMS)

Full classification as recorded by WoRMS: Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Arthropoda · Class: Malacostraca · Order: Decapoda · Family: Lysmatidae · Genus: Lysmata.

Accepted name: Lysmata grabhami · Authority: (Gordon, 1935) · Taxonomic status: accepted · AphiaID: 107524.

Synonyms and superseded combinations recorded for this taxon: Hippolysmata grabhami Gordon, 1935.

Source: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=107524 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Biology and life history (SeaLifeBase)

Measured values published by SeaLifeBase for Lysmata grabhami. Only fields the database actually holds for this species are shown; these are database values, not aquarium guidance.

Depth range: 6–91 m · Habitat zone: benthic.

SeaLifeBase notes: Found in rock crevices. Often encountered in pairs of simultaneous hermaphrodites in the sea anemone Telmatactis cricoides . It leaves the anemone at a distance of about 20 cm when it cleans fish (Ref. 102839).

Source: SeaLifeBase species summary (SpecCode 25857) — https://www.sealifebase.se/summary/Lysmata-grabhami.html (CC BY-NC 3.0 — non-commercial use only). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Distribution and occurrence records (GBIF)

315 georeferenced occurrence records for Lysmata grabhami are published through GBIF from 26 countries or marine areas. The map above plots 62 distinct locations from a sample of 315 records, omitting 2 inland records that carry an institution's coordinates rather than a collection site; it shows where the species has been observed and reported, not a modelled range.

Most records by country or area: Spain (190); Portugal (31); Martinique (12); Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (11); United States of America (10); Colombia (8); Cabo Verde (8); Guadeloupe (6); Cayman Islands (5); Mexico (5); Saint Barthélemy (3); Indonesia (3); Saint Lucia (3); Sao Tome and Principe (3); Bahamas (2).

Marine regions with a valid WoRMS distribution record: European waters (ERMS scope); FAO fishing area 34; FAO fishing area 47; Madeira; Canary Islands Exclusive Economic Zone; Cape Verdean Exclusive Economic Zone; Ascension Exclusive Economic Zone; West Atlantic; Bermudian Exclusive Economic Zone; Gulf of Mexico; Coasts of America; St. Paul; Tropical West Atlantic; Annobon; Madeiran Exclusive Economic Zone; New Caledonian Exclusive Economic Zone; Martinican Exclusive Economic Zone; Lesser Antilles; Saint-Barthélemy Exclusive Economic Zone; Statia.

Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2226418) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2226418&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=107524 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Description and natural history (Wikipedia)

Lysmata grabhami can grow to a length of 6 cm. Its appearance is distinctive; the antennae are white as are the third pair of maxillipeds; the body is yellow, with a continuous white dorsal stripe running from head to telson, bordered with a longitudinal red stripe on either side; the legs are yellow, and the external branches of the uropods have a white stripe on the outer edge.

Lysmata grabhami occurs in shallow water on either side of the tropical and sub-tropical Atlantic Ocean. It is typically found in reef environments. In the West Atlantic it is found on the coast of North America, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico and around Bermuda. In the East Atlantic it occurs in the Canary Islands, Madeira and Cape Verde.

Lysmata grabhami is a cleaner shrimp; in common with certain other shrimps and certain small fish, it has established behaviours involving cleaning stations to which larger fish come to have their external parasites removed. The shrimp waves its long white antennae to attract a fish, the fish poses, extending a fin or opening its mouth, the shrimp hops onto the fish and picks at the parasites until the fish disengages. The shrimp may occupy a single cleaning station for extended periods. Client fish include groupers, parrotfishes and tangs.

This is a symbiotic arrangement, the client fish benefits from having its parasites removed and the shrimp benefits from the extra nutrition it receives. Six species of shrimp from three different families have developed this practice, a case of convergent evolution.

Lysmata grabhami is sometimes kept in a reef aquarium, but its sister species from the Pacific, Lysmata amboinensis, is seen much more often in the trade. Both species will clean other fish in the aquarium.

Source: Wikipedia: Lysmata grabhami — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysmata_grabhami (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.