Marine ornamental shrimp:status and prospects

Practically all of the over 3,000 species of marine fishes
and invertebrates marketed in the aquarium trade
industry are collected from coral reef ecosystems.
Extensive and destructive collection of these animals can
directly deplete the target species that already under
threat from habitat loss or degradation and indirectly
damage the delicate coral reef
ecosystem. Over 18 species of marine
tropical shrimps are collected for the
aquarium trade (Fletcher et al. 1995).
Many of these species are cleaner
shrimps that remove parasites off fish,
therefore play a vital role in coral
ecology (Jonasson 1987, Debelius
1984, 1985, Wilkerson 1994).

Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution 1335

This manuscript is an author version with the final publication
available and may be cited as: Lin, J., Zhang, D., & Creswell, R. L. (1999). Marine ornamental shrimp:
status and prospects. Aquaculture Magazine, 25(3), 52-55.