SEXY SHRIMPS ON SHOW AT BRISTOL AQUARIUM
A quartet of ‘sexy shrimps’ has gone on show at Bristol Aquarium for the first time.
The tiny crustaceans are famed for their bizarre, booty-shaking dance which has led to their provocative common name.
The diminutive marine creatures, which measure only a few centimetres in length, are originally from the Indo Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
They live on coral reefs, often among the tentacles of sea anemones, and are reddish-brown in colour with bright white spots covering their bodies.
At the Harbourside attraction the shrimps are sharing their display with a variety of other crustaceans.
Bristol Aquarium’s David Waines said: “Although they’re tiny, the sexy shrimps are incredibly entertaining to watch and are highly unusual.
“No one seems to be quite sure why they do their dance, however it appears they will often do it when other shrimps are in the vicinity and they also seem to sway their hips as they walk along!
“Although it is still very early stages, there are reports of these shrimps breeding in captivity, so we’re hoping they really will be able to live up to their name in the not too distant future,” he added.
Bizarrely for such a small and gentle creature the literal translation of its scientific name ‘Thor amboinensis’ would be ‘Norse Thunder God of Ambon Island’.
In the wild the sexy anemone shrimp enjoys a symbiotic relationship with its host anemone and will get a portion of its food by eating small food items that it can scavenge from what the anemone is feeding on.
* To watch a music video of the sexy shrimp in action go to http://youtu.be/xvdn-zNvoLE
Issued by Bristol Aquarium. For more information please contact David Waines on 0117 929 8929.
