True Peppermint Shrimp

[gclackum]

So I was reading the other night about true peppermint shrimp. Apparently there are 5 or 6 sold in the industry as peppermint shrimp. But they went on to say that the Lysmata boggessi was the one that feeds on Aiptasia. So then I started wondering which I have and is it reef safe?

 

[ELBee]

I'm new to reefing, so don't want to wager a guess- but I found a helpful pic of the different species, for you to compare to that little guy you have.

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(A) Lysmata wurdemanni
(B) Lysmata rathbunae
(C) Lysmata ankeri
(D) Lysmata boggessi
(E) Lysmata pederseni
(F) Lysmata bahia

Also a very detailed writeup of the identifying features can be found here: https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/27306/27306.pdf

 

[chaples55]

I'm not sure which species they were, but the 3 peppermint shrimp I got from reef cleaners did a great job eradicating aiptasia from a clump of infested macro algae I bought.