Emperor Shrimps Ride Nudibranch

Occurred on March 1, 2024 / Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia

Info from Licensor: "The underwater symbiotic relationship - a couple of Emperor shrimps - Zenopontonia rex are riding a nudibranch (sea slug) - Hypselodoris tryoni.
This species of shrimp uses nudibranchs (sea slugs) as 'transportation', the shrimps usually move along the nudibranchs and keep their open claws close to the bottom. As soon as the shrimps see their prey, they immediately grab it! Their prey can be tiny fishes and crustaceans. In most cases, Zenopontonia rex choose nudibranchs for their 'collaboration' which actively move along the seabed, in order to find the hunting grounds that are as big as possible. The benefits for sea slugs - Emperor shrimps kill parasites that like to lay eggs in the gills of sea slugs. Zenopontonia rex is also often found on starfishes. The body length of those shrimps is approximately 10mm. The video was taken at a depth of 17m."