Banded Coral Shrimp in Cozumel

Bold red-and-white banded claws and body with very long white antennae waving from a crevice. Usually in pairs.

Quick ID

Where You Will See It In Cozumel

Banded Coral Shrimp works the 9 to 98 foot band. On this island that means the sheltered west-coast reefs, and the shallow east-side entries when the sea is flat — these are the sites where the depth and the habitat line up for it.

Without a boat. It is worth looking for at El Mirador, El Presidente and Money Bar — all shore entries, so you dive them on your own schedule.

On an ordinary beginner boat dive. It should be within reach at Casa Blanca, Chankanaab Bolones, Columbia Shallows, El Cielo and La Francesa. No advanced certification needed.

Deeper, and on the walls. It is also plausible on Tormentos, Villa Blanca Wall, Barracuda Reef and C-53 Wreck.

Conditions change the odds more than the site does — the current, the time of day and how much the group has already stirred up the sand. Ask your guide what they have been seeing that week.

Behaviour

A cleaner shrimp. The waving white antennae are an advertisement: fish queue at the station and hold still, and the shrimp removes parasites and dead tissue, including from inside the mouths of morays.

Commonly Confused With

• Pederson cleaner shrimp — Pederson shrimp are small, transparent with purple spots, and live on anemones.
• Scarlet-striped cleaning shrimp — That species has continuous stripes down the back rather than discrete bands and banded claws.

Diving Etiquette And Safety

Nothing required. If a fish is holding still at a cleaning station, wait — swimming through it scatters the queue.

Part of the Cozumel marine life guide · see Cozumel dive sites · plan your Cozumel dive trip

Photo: Esquilo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.