Peppermint Shrimp

The peppermint shrimp Lysmata vittata (East Asian Lined Shrimp; Red-Striped Shrimp) is part of a widely distributed complex of brightly colored shrimps, some of which regularly display cleaning behavior, removing ectoparasites from fishes. Lysmata vittata is only an occasional cleaner and is more of an omnivore. Historically Lysmata vittata has been reported as ranging widely in the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea south to South Africa to Australia and extending into the temperate Northwest Pacific. However, a recent integrative taxonomic analysis found that Lysmata vittata is a complex of multiple species and the native range of L. vittata sensu stricto likely spans the temperate/subtropical Indo-West Pacific from China to southern Russia. It has been genetically and morphologically identified in lower Chesapeake Bay, where it was collected from 2013 to 2018, at temperatures of 4.5 to 26.5 ºC and salinities of 18.5 to 34.5 PSU. It has also been collected in Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, Hudson River, New York, and Long Island Sound, Connecticut. It is also established in New Zealand. The likeliest vector is ballast water, although several species marketed as Lysmata vittata are sold in the aquarium trade.  Populations of 'L. vittata' reported from Australia, Thailand, Egypt, Brazil, and Caribbean Panama refer to other, closely related species in the 'L. vittata' complex. However, they may be distributional overlap within the complex in some areas, like Hong Kong.

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