Seastar Shrimp

Periclimenes soror, also called the starfish shrimp, is a species of shrimp that lives as a symbiont with sea stars.

Description

Periclimenes soror is a species of little shrimp with a truncated rostris, and showing a wide variety of coats, but often with a distinctive white stripe or white dots pattern on the back. The rest of the body varies with the host starfish: it is often "a deep purple red" when living on Culcita, Protoreaster or Pentaceraster, but red with a white dorsal stripe when living on Acanthaster, and can also be transparent. Adults reach up to 15 millimetres (0.6 in) long.

Distribution

This species has a wide distribution across the Indo-Pacific from Tanzania to Japan, also Australia, and in the Gulf of Panama.

Habitat

It lives commensally on starfishes, including the "crown-of-thorns" starfish, Acanthaster planci. Depth range 1 - 25 m.