Periclimenes yucatanicus
Find Spotted Cleaner Shrimp across Bonaire, the US Virgin Islands and Curaçao in warm 26-29 °C waters. Best sightings run May to September.
A small, largely transparent shrimp with a striking pattern of white and violet-edged spots and a broad white saddle across the mid-body that catches the eye even in busy reef scenes. The carapace (the hard upper shell) is nearly see-through, making those bold markings the real ID key. Look for it sitting still on the disc or tentacles of an anemone, rarely straying far from its host. No size data exists in the record, but it is a small shrimp by any reef standard.
You will almost always find it perched on or immediately beside its anemone host, where it performs its cleaning role by picking parasites and dead tissue from passing reef fish that queue up for the service. It waves its antennae to advertise its presence to potential clients, a behaviour easy to watch at close range. Most individuals hold their ground when approached slowly, making them cooperative photo subjects, though a clumsy approach sends them retreating under the anemone's tentacles.
Like other cleaner shrimp, it relies entirely on its anemone host for safety, and the cleaning station relationship is so specific that individuals rarely leave the immediate vicinity of the host across their whole lives.
Northern Hemisphere sightings concentrate between May and September, aligning with the warmest part of the Caribbean year. Water temperatures in the observed range of roughly 26 to 29 °C correspond to this period, so planning a summer dive trip to Bonaire or the Virgin Islands gives you the best odds.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Most commonly logged across the Dutch and former Dutch Caribbean, with Bonaire and Curaçao together accounting for the largest share of recorded sites, followed closely by the US Virgin Islands. Strong populations are also documented in the British Virgin Islands, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint Lucia, so the whole eastern and southern Caribbean arc is your best hunting ground. Klein Bonaire, the waters around Saint Thomas, and the Les Anses-d'Arlet area of Martinique are among the most reliably reported spots.
Mapping where Spotted Cleaner Shrimp is logged…
The species is most reliably found across the southern and eastern Caribbean. Bonaire, the US Virgin Islands, and Curaçao lead the records, with Klein Bonaire and Saint Thomas among the top spots. Martinique, the British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, and Saint Lucia are also solid options.
Sightings in the northern hemisphere cluster from May through September. This coincides with peak water temperatures in the 26-29 °C range across the Caribbean. A summer trip to Bonaire or the US Virgin Islands gives you the strongest window.
Look for a small, nearly transparent shrimp sitting on an anemone with a bold white saddle across its back and scattered white and violet-edged spots. The clear body makes the spots stand out sharply. Its habit of staying on or right next to its anemone host is a strong behavioural clue.
At most sites where they are recorded they are classed as uncommon, so a sighting is a find worth celebrating. They turn up as common at only a small number of sites, mainly in core areas like Klein Bonaire and Saint Thomas. Slow, patient diving near anemones is the best strategy.
Not at all. They pose no threat whatsoever. In fact, they may investigate your hand if you hold it still near their anemone, occasionally picking at skin in a mild cleaning attempt.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Freshwater Shrimp
2,168 sites
