Banded Boxer Shrimp

Banded boxer shrimp, also sold as the coral banded shrimp, is Stenopus hispidus: a red-and-white barred shrimp with oversized front claws and antennae far longer than its body. It is found on reefs through the tropics, usually hanging upside down under a ledge or in the roof of a cave with only the antennae showing.

Aquarium care

• Give it caves, overhangs and shaded rockwork. It rarely settles in an open, brightly lit tank.
• Drip acclimate, keep salinity stable, and avoid copper-based treatments entirely.
• Feed meaty foods such as mysis, chopped seafood or sinking pellets; it scavenges, but should not be left to forage alone.
• It is territorial toward other shrimp. Boxer shrimp commonly kill other boxer shrimp and will harass cleaner shrimp, so keep one per tank unless you have a bonded pair in a large system.
• It moults regularly and needs undisturbed cover for a day or two afterwards.
• Large wrasses, hawkfish, triggers and lionfish will eat it.

A characterful invertebrate for a peaceful reef or fish-only tank with small to medium fish. It leaves corals alone, but plan the stocking around the shrimp aggression above rather than assuming it will get along with every neighbour.

Stock rotates. Local pickup at our Lethbridge store, with more marine stock under saltwater fish.