Caridina spongicola
| Caridina spongicola | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Caridea |
| Family: | Atyidae |
| Genus: | Caridina |
| Species: | C. spongicola |
| Binomial name | |
| Caridina spongicola Zitzler & Cai, 2006 | |
Caridina spongicola is a small species of freshwater shrimp from Sulawesi (Indonesia) that reaches 0.64 to 1.27 cm (0.25 to 0.5 in) in length. In the wild it strictly lives on an undescribed species of freshwater sponge, making it one of only two known commensal species of freshwater shrimp (the other is a Limnocaridina shrimp that lives in mussels in Lake Tanganyika, East Africa). It is popularly known as the harlequin shrimp, and also sometimes Celebes beauty shrimp or sponge shrimp in the aquarium trade. It is often confused with Caridina woltereckae, a larger and more contrastingly colored species found in the same region as C. spongicola.