The list of cute little coral-shrimp seems like it is endless. Another very discrete crustacean that we came across during ourFluval Sea Flores Expectitionearlier this year isVir euphylliusthat is exclusively associated with LPS corals of the Euphyllidae family. The camouflage uniform of this shrimp is a perfect match to theEuphyllia.host.
Its yellowish transparent body speckled with very small red/brown dots is a perfect match of the tentacle tissue and its dots of zooxanthellae symbionts. The white line that crosses the head in between the eye is a perfect blend in between tentacles and the long septae of Euphyllidae when the tissues are retracted and the shrimp is the most vulnerable. The red lined eyes add a bit of color to this very camouflaged pattern.
Although described as associated withEuphylllia Divisa.,E.帕兰卡和E. Glabrescens., 我们发现Vir euphylliusalso onEuphyllia Ancora.as you can see on the photos below. We will find it most probably in other species of Euphyllidae as well
We’ve never seen this shrimp in aquarium store. They probably fall off their coral host during collection, but if they would become popular, and collector could get few extra bucks, they would probably separate them from the corals and get them to the exporters safely. With the now constant supply of culturedEuphyllia.被送出印度尼西亚,他们的文化机架占据了许多人。这些农场的仔细收藏将更容易。
Although we saw quite a small colony ofEuphyllia Ancora.hosting one of these shrimp, in order to not stress up the coral host too much, it would be wise to introduce the shrimp separately only to very healthy and quite largeEuphyllia.colony that has been thriving in an aquarium for a while. An occasional feeding of the coral would probably provide sufficient food for the hosted shrimp too.
The union ofVir euphyllius和Euphyllia.corals would make a fascinating microhabitat to be held in a nano tank without any larger fish that could feed on the shrimp. Adiverse colored collection ofEuphyllia Ancora.would make a great display. TheOrangutan crabcould be another associated crustacean together with some pipefish, blennies, or micro gobies.