Vir philippinensis (Philippine Anemone Shrimp)

Details

Vir philippinensis—often called the Philippine anemone shrimp—is a commensal palaemonid shrimp associated mainly with sea anemones (and occasionally soft corals or ascidians). Tiny and highly transparent, it hides among host tentacles, practising a mix of cleaning behaviour and scavenging.

Ecology & Biology

• Symbiosis: typically lives on sea anemones, gaining protection from predators within the stinging tentacles.

• Diet: small plankton, ectoparasites and organic detritus; may pick particles trapped on the host’s surface.

• Reproduction: females brood eggs; larvae are planktonic and settle on reefs before recruiting to hosts.

• Behaviour: mostly concealed by day and more active at night; darts into the tentacle bases when alarmed.

Identification

Slender, semi‑transparent body with long antennae and walking legs; second pereopods slightly more robust. Fine white dots/lines may be present and can appear/disappear with background contrast. Separation from similar genera often requires details of the rostrum, rostral teeth and chela proportions.

Size & Longevity

• Length: commonly 1.5–2.5 cm (excluding antennae).

• Life: typically ~1–2 years.

Range & Habitat

Indo‑Pacific tropics (notably SE Asia and the Western Pacific) on reefs, reef slopes and lagoons around 1–25+ m, chiefly on anemone hosts.

Conservation & Threats

• Threats: reef degradation, anemone loss, collection pressure and local water‑quality decline.

• Good practice: no‑touch viewing; minimise close‑flash photography that startles shrimps and hosts.

IUCN: treated here as Not Evaluated (NE); this entry focuses on identification and natural history.