Pictured in our latest Picture of the Week here at the Aquaerd Blog is a fan favorite among shrimp lovers, the Blood Red Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius). We happened across this gorgeous crustacean when we randomly stumbled into one of the local fish stores, Pet City, over the weekend. Since we just relocated to a different part of the Houston area, we figured it was a great time to get to better know the fish stores in the area. That aside, the shrimp is a favorite among aquarists for two major reasons. For one, it’s obviously attractive. The bright red body and random white, almost perfectly circular, dots give it a unique appearance. But it also serves a purpose. The blood red fire shrimp is of the cleaner shrimp variety. It will occasionally perform cleaning activities on fish in the tank, and it does a great job eating detritus and leftover fish food before it decays too much. It’s an interesting, and usually expensive, addition to any fish tank.
