Mediterranean Cleaner Shrimp care guide
Mediterranean Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata seticaudata) — minimum tank 60 L, temperature 18-24 °C, pH 8-8.4.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Mediterranean Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata seticaudata) is a marine cleaner shrimp of the family Hippolytidae, listed in the Aquairi knowledge base as an intermediate-level species. Mediterranean cleaner shrimp, smaller than amboinensis with reddish body. Ideal for cooler temperate marine tanks.
Taxonomy
- Family: Hippolytidae
- Genus: Lysmata
- Scientific name: Lysmata seticaudata
- Common synonyms: Monaco Cleaner
Habitat
Lysmata is a genus of marine shrimp from tropical and subtropical reefs worldwide. Several species act as cleaner shrimp, picking parasites and dead tissue from fish at established cleaning stations, and the genus is notable for protandric simultaneous hermaphroditism. In the Aquairi knowledge base this species is recorded from Mediterranean Sea, Eastern Atlantic.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 60 L (15.9 US gal)
- Adult size: 3-5 cm
- Temperature: 18-24 °C (64-75 °F)
- pH: 8-8.4
- GH: 8-12 °dGH
- KH: 8-12 °dKH
- Salinity (specific gravity): 1.024-1.026
- Lifespan: 1-3 years
Diet
The species is an omnivore. In the wild it scavenges and cleans parasites and dead tissue from fish; in aquaria it accepts meaty frozen foods, pellets and flake, supplemented by detritus it gathers from the rockwork.
Compatibility
The Aquairi knowledge base lists this species as peaceful. Suitable tank mates include Mediterranean fish, Cool reef fish. It should be kept away from Predatory fish. It is reef-safe and may be kept in pairs, since members are simultaneous hermaphrodites.
Breeding
Breeding requires a planktonic larval stage, generally in brackish or marine water, which makes captive reproduction very difficult and rarely achieved in home aquaria.
Breeding the Mediterranean Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata seticaudata)
Overview
Lysmata seticaudata (Risso, 1816) is a cleaner shrimp of the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, known by common names such as Monaco cleaner shrimp and Mediterranean cleaner shrimp. As a temperate species it is suited to cooler marine systems and was historically a model organism for studying sexual differentiation in crustaceans.
Sexing
Early work mistakenly treated this shrimp as a straightforward male-to-female sex changer (protandry). It is now understood to be a protandric simultaneous hermaphrodite: animals first function as males, then become simultaneous hermaphrodites able to reproduce as either sex, so any two mature adults can pair.
Conditioning
Being temperate, it is conditioned at cooler temperatures than tropical Lysmata, broadly in the range of cooler marine tanks rather than warm reefs. Stable salinity and steady feeding keep settled adults in spawning condition.
Spawning & Berried Females
In keeping with the genus, the egg-carrying partner mates after moulting and broods the fertilised eggs on its pleopods. Cleaner shrimp of this group release recurring batches of planktonic zoea under favourable conditions.
Larval Care
The hatched zoea are planktonic and require a gently circulated larval vessel with live food. As with related Lysmata, rotifers and Artemia together with co-cultured phytoplankton support early stages, progressing to enriched Artemia as the larvae grow.
Common Challenges
The temperate biology adds a complication: larvae and adults need cooler, stable conditions than most reef setups provide. Combined with a planktonic larval phase and the live-food demands shared across the genus, this makes sustained home rearing difficult.