When a person thinks of shrimp, he or she will likely think of something deliciously edible and small. But there are shrimp species that are even smaller than the “baby” shrimp sold in the supermarket. Indeed, they’re really too small to make good eating for anything other than hungry fish that are themselves diminutive, but they are beautiful to behold in their natural habitat. Here are just five of the tiniest shrimp species on the planet.
Brine Shrimp
These tiny crustaceans, made famous as sea monkeys, are between eight to 12 mm long, with females being a bit larger than the males. The eggs can lay dormant for a long period of time and are used to feed fish and other crustaceans. Unlike most shrimp, brine shrimp are found in salty lakes.
Emperor Shrimp
This pretty shrimp species is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is even smaller than the brine shrimp. It usually grows to about 4 mm long. It’s usually found in water that’s about 148 feet deep and lives in community with other animals like sea cucumbers. The emperor shrimp in the image above is resting on a nudibranch, which themselves can measure less than an inch in length!
Clear Cleaner Shrimp
This delicate, nearly transparent shrimp can grow to about one and a quarter inches long. It’s a species of cleaner shrimp that’s also found in the Indo-Pacific oceans and off the shores of Hawaii. As a cleaner shrimp it cleans sea anemones, animals whose tentacles are usually poisonous to other animals.
Caribbean Velvet Shrimp
This one-inch long shrimp is found in the Caribbean at depths of around 20 to 90 feet. It’s also semi-transparent, and a diver can easily see the anatomy of its large eye, its sand vein and bright red inner organs.
Zanzibar Whip Coral Shrimp
As its name implies, this tiny, 15 mm long shrimp lives in the coral reefs in the Indian and western Pacific oceans at depths of about 10 to 130 feet. Its pale, somewhat creamy coloring helps it blend in with the coral it lives within.
