Shrimp in Maldives?

Any suggestions on this shrimp from the Maldives. Pretty small (1cm) and living on a small gorgonian. Wasn't in any of the Maldive or Indian Ocean ID books on board.

There is a second one on the branch behind - showing how well camouflaged they were when viewed from above.

Alex

Hi Alex - It looks to me like Hamodactylus noumaea. Common name is gorgonian shrimp, with the color always matching the host. There's another species, boschmai, but that has a regular pattern of white dots on the back and is a bit more transparent.

Thanks Lesley!

I saw h. boschmai in Gosliner et al.'s Coral Reef Animals..., but didn't think it was the right one.

Alex

Hi Alex and Leslie,

Based on photos from "Crustacea Guide of the World" by Debelius, I think your shrimp could be H. boschmai, because the rostrum isn't transparent like H. noumeae.

Here are some of my photos of the shrimps in question.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianmayes/42...57619145239269/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianmayes/53...57625729306234/

Cheers,

Brian