shrimp id please

[noskills]

i bought an encrusting monti today with this little yellow shrimp in it. as i cannot post a pic i will describe it.
bright yellow body/claws claws have red tips long feathery antennae and yellow/red striped eye stalks (striped down their length)
any idea on an id would be awesome.
thanks

 

[LeslieH]

Oh, I just love these little guys! It's actually a hermit crab that instead of walking around in a shell it lives in an old christmas tree worm burrow. The name of this particular species is Paguritta corallicola. Those feathery antennae you noticed? They use them to catch food particles floating in the water. That's just so nifty!

 

[dtd87]

that looks so cool.

 

[noskills]

thank you so much. it is really cool looking.

 

[dragoneggs]

Very nice pic! What a surprise treat!

 

[returnofsid]

What a perfect photo!! Leslie, great ID! I'd have guessed a tiny pistol shrimp! Very interesting information to learn, about hermit crabs, sans shell!!

 

[WABlonde]

Very cool little find!

 

[noskills]

apparently its only found on heron island aus. what a long trip for such a little guy. the lfs people didn't even know it was there.
any idea what kind of coral its in i think it looks similar to Astreopora incrustans. very tiny blue polyps look nice.

 

[LeslieH]

it's also been found in Samoa. So either it's rare over a wide area or not very often noticed. do you know where your monti came from, noskills?

 

[noskills]

thanks Leslie,
after you id'd it i looked online for more info. there really isn't much out there. a hand full of pictures at best, all related to ne aus. i agree that this little guy is probably just over looked or treated as a pest in the coral trade. it's very attractive and unique. as for where it came from i'll have to try and ask @ lfs. if i'm lucky it might be a direct import, but probably came through a clearing house somewhere.
Montipora verrucosa is widespread through the indo-pacific so without a waybill i might never really know.
thank you again Leslie, for your expertise, at least i can put a name with an antenna.