Alan Sutton, Tansania
Info
Zenopontonia soror (Nobili, 1904)
Zenopontonia soror is very variable in color. It is a shrimp that lives commensally with starfish and adapts to them in color.
The starfish shrimp has a short, broad rostrum that curves downwards and has ten or eleven "teeth". The shrimp is covered with small white spots whose color mimics that of its host starfish: in Linckia laevigata it is blue; in Acanthaster it is bicolored, bright red with a pale dorsal stripe, and in Culcita it is a less speckled, transparent color, sometimes with a transparent dorsal stripe, blue or maroon, sometimes white, yellow or light green.
Zenopontonia soror is always found in association with a starfish, usually on the underside. Acanthaster seems to be its preferred host. However, it has also been found on Culcita, Choriaster, Protoreaster, Echinaster, Halityle and Linckia and can also occur in association with other starfish species.
The starfish shrimp appears to recognize a potential host by chemical cues in the water. It does not necessarily remain permanently on a single starfish, but will search for another starfish of the same species if separated from its host.
Up to about fifty shrimps have been found on a single host. The shrimp feed on the mucus secreted by the starfish and benefit from the protection from predators provided by their carnivorous host.
The starfish shrimp can be confused with the emperor shrimp (Zenopontonia rex), but the latter uses a sea cucumber or a large mollusc as a host.
Synonymised names
Periclimenes (Cristiger) frater Borradaile, 1915
Periclimenes bicolor Edmondson, 1935
Periclimenes frater Borradaile
Periclimenes parasiticus Borradaile, 1898
Periclimenes soror Nobili, 1904
Zenopontonia soror is very variable in color. It is a shrimp that lives commensally with starfish and adapts to them in color.
The starfish shrimp has a short, broad rostrum that curves downwards and has ten or eleven "teeth". The shrimp is covered with small white spots whose color mimics that of its host starfish: in Linckia laevigata it is blue; in Acanthaster it is bicolored, bright red with a pale dorsal stripe, and in Culcita it is a less speckled, transparent color, sometimes with a transparent dorsal stripe, blue or maroon, sometimes white, yellow or light green.
Zenopontonia soror is always found in association with a starfish, usually on the underside. Acanthaster seems to be its preferred host. However, it has also been found on Culcita, Choriaster, Protoreaster, Echinaster, Halityle and Linckia and can also occur in association with other starfish species.
The starfish shrimp appears to recognize a potential host by chemical cues in the water. It does not necessarily remain permanently on a single starfish, but will search for another starfish of the same species if separated from its host.
Up to about fifty shrimps have been found on a single host. The shrimp feed on the mucus secreted by the starfish and benefit from the protection from predators provided by their carnivorous host.
The starfish shrimp can be confused with the emperor shrimp (Zenopontonia rex), but the latter uses a sea cucumber or a large mollusc as a host.
Synonymised names
Periclimenes (Cristiger) frater Borradaile, 1915
Periclimenes bicolor Edmondson, 1935
Periclimenes frater Borradaile
Periclimenes parasiticus Borradaile, 1898
Periclimenes soror Nobili, 1904
