Lysmata debelius is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of cleaner shrimp

Cleaner shrimp

Cleaner shrimp is a generic term for any swimming decapod crustacean that cleans other organisms of parasites. This is a widely-cited example of symbiosis: a relationship in which both parties benefit. The fish benefit by having parasites removed from them, and the shrimp gain the nutritional value...

 indigenous to the Indo-Pacific

Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...

. It is popular in the aquarium trade, where it is known as the fire shrimp, blood shrimp or scarlet cleaner shrimp.

Taxonomy

Lysmata debelius was first described

Alpha taxonomy

Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...

 by A. J. Bruce in 1983, based on type material from Polillo Island

Polillo Island

Polillo is an island in the Northeastern region of the Philippine archipelago. It is separated from the island of Luzon by the Polillo Strait.The island itself is subdivided across three municipalities. The municipality of Polillo takes up the Southern part of the island...

 in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. The specific epithet commemorates Helmut Debelius, who had collected the specimens and sent them to a zoologist for identification. A divergent population from Ari Atoll in the Maldives

Maldives

The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

 was later described as a separate species, L. splendida, by Rudolf Burukovsky.

Description

Lysmata debelius grows up to 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long, with males and females appearing similar. It has a red body, with conspicuous white antennae

Antenna (biology)

Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....

 and white tips to the third to fifth pereiopods. There are white dots on the cephalothorax

Cephalothorax

The cephalothorax is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. The word cephalothorax is derived from the Greek words for head and thorax...

 and legs; white dots on the abdomen distinguish L. splendida from L. debelius.

Ecology

Lysmata debelius is one of a group of species in the genus Lysmata

Lysmata

Lysmata is a genus of cleaner shrimp, containing the following species:*Lysmata amboinensis *Lysmata anchisteus Chace, 1972*Lysmata ankeri Rhyne & Lin, 2006*Lysmata argentopunctata Wicksten, 2000...

that has the role of a cleaner shrimp

Cleaner shrimp

Cleaner shrimp is a generic term for any swimming decapod crustacean that cleans other organisms of parasites. This is a widely-cited example of symbiosis: a relationship in which both parties benefit. The fish benefit by having parasites removed from them, and the shrimp gain the nutritional value...

 in reef ecosystems, alongside L. ambonensis, L. grabhami and L. splendida. It is a popular aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 pet.

L. debelius is a hermaphrodite

Hermaphrodite

In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...

 and therefore any two individuals may mate. The hatching of eggs, moulting

Ecdysis

Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticula in many invertebrates. This process of moulting is the defining feature of the clade Ecdysozoa, comprising the arthropods, nematodes, velvet worms, horsehair worms, rotifers, tardigrades and Cephalorhyncha...

, and copulation cycle is identical to that of L. wurdemanni

Lysmata wurdemanni

Lysmata wurdemanni, also known as the peppermint shrimp, is a species of shrimp.-Description:It reaches in length, and is named for the bright red stripes on its otherwise translucent body, which are reminiscent of peppermint candies such as a candy cane...

, yielding weekly batches of zoeae from each pair.