Pederson's Cleaner Shrimp (Ancylomenes pedersoni) Breeding Guide

Ancylomenes pedersoni is a Caribbean cleaner shrimp living on anemones. Females carry eggs and release planktonic larvae that are not reared in home aquaria.

Overview

Ancylomenes pedersoni, originally described as Periclimenes pedersoni by Fenner A. Chace Jr. in 1958, is a small transparent shrimp with bluish and violet markings and long white antennae. It inhabits the Caribbean Sea at depths of 1 to 15 metres and is frequently found on reefs near Bermuda, living in association with the anemones Bartholomea annulata or Condylactis gigantea.

Conditioning

The shrimp acclimates to its host anemone by progressively pressing its body and appendages against the tentacles for increasing periods. Up to 26 shrimps have been recorded on a single anemone, though usually only one or two are present, so a healthy host underpins keeping the shrimp in condition.

Breeding Setup

The shrimp operates a cleaning station, attracting fish by lashing its antennae and removing external parasites, even cleaning inside the gill covers and mouth. A stable host anemone with adequate fish traffic recreates the natural setting in which pairs settle.

Spawning & Berried Females

As a palaemonid cleaner shrimp the female carries fertilised eggs beneath her abdomen until they hatch, in line with the general reproductive pattern of the family.

Larval Care

Hatched larvae are planktonic before settlement. No whitelisted source documents a practical home protocol for rearing these larvae through to settlement.