Palaemonella philippinensis
Translucent and easy to miss, bubble coral shrimp turn up on bubble corals across Sabah, the Visayas and Sulawesi year-round.
A small, glassy-bodied shrimp with a translucent to pale reddish tint that lets it blend almost completely into its host coral. Look for faint speckled markings along the body and long, thin antennae that are often the first thing you notice before the shrimp itself. It sits low against its host rather than perching openly, so a slow scan of bubble coral tentacles is usually how divers find it.
Found clinging to the bulbous tentacles of bubble coral, usually tucked down among the folds rather than sitting in the open. It moves in short, deliberate steps across the coral surface and tends to hold still when a torch or camera light passes over it, relying on its transparency rather than fleeing. Divers usually spot it during slow macro-focused dives rather than in passing, since it takes a deliberate look at the host coral to notice it at all.
Its near-total transparency is thought to be a direct match to its bubble coral host, giving it cover from predators that hunt by sight over the reef rather than by scent.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings, and with water temperatures sitting between roughly 25.6 and 31.6 C across its range, it is present on host corals year-round. Any month works as long as you are diving where bubble corals grow.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Most reliably logged in Indonesia and the Philippines, with strong numbers also out of Sabah in Malaysia. Within those countries, the Visayas region of the Philippines, Sabah, and Sulawesi in Indonesia turn up the most sightings, with smaller numbers from Nusa Tenggara, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Luzon and Bali.
Mapping where Bubble Coral Shrimp is logged…
The strongest sightings come from the Visayas in the Philippines, Sabah in Malaysia, and Sulawesi in Indonesia, with further records across Nusa Tenggara, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Luzon and Bali. It shows up wherever bubble corals are present at diveable depths.
There is no strong seasonal pattern in the sightings, so it is considered a year-round find. Warm tropical water in the 25.6 to 31.6 C range across its range means it is on its host coral in any month.
Look for a small, glassy, near-transparent shrimp tucked among the tentacles of bubble coral, often given away by its long thin antennae before you spot the body. It stays low against the coral rather than sitting exposed on top.
Exact size data is not confirmed, but like most Palaemonella shrimp it is small, generally only a centimetre or two long, which is part of why it is so easy to miss on the reef.
No. They pose no threat to divers and will simply hold still or retreat slightly into the coral tentacles if disturbed by a light or a hand getting too close.
Its transparent body is closely matched to its bubble coral host, giving it camouflage from predators that rely on sight to hunt across the reef.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Freshwater Shrimp
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