Cleaner Shrimp

ocean · helpful · tiny-workers · weird-jobs

Tiny underwater doctors. Cleaner shrimp swim up to larger fish and nibble away parasites, dead skin, and other icky stuff. The fish actually hold still and let them do it, because the shrimp help them feel better and stay healthy.

Come from many families. Cleaner shrimp aren't just one type. They belong to several different shrimp families, with names like Hippolytidae and Palaemonidae, though the most famous cleaners come from the genus Lysmata.

Team players of the sea. This is called a symbiotic relationship, which means both the shrimp and the fish benefit. The shrimp gets a meal, and the fish gets cleaned up and stays healthier.

Reef clinic workers. Many cleaner shrimp set up shop in coral reefs, where they become known as "cleaning stations." Fish of all different sizes come to visit them, just like going to a doctor's office.