Harlequin Shrimp, Hymenocera picta

 These Harlequin Shrimp, (Hymenocera picta) are something I had been searching for ever since seeing a picture of them on the cover of our Hawaiian invertebrate book. They are so beautiful and quite rare. It has taken me well over 40 dives to find them out here in Hawaii.
  Unfortunately they are heavily collected for the aquarium trade and the Hawaiian ones are more highly prized being rarer than the Indo and African varieties. Once encountered they can often be spotted around the same location for months or even years. But just so these two are caught up and captured for some salt water aquarium I will keep their location confidential.
  They feed on the tube feet of echinoderms like sea stars. And if you look closely you can see that this pair has found and is feasting on a sea star. They start at the tip of an arm and slowly move in. They can feed on one star for up to a week. However some sea stars have been seen to escape by detaching the arm being fed on and leave it behind.

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