Identification and species complex: the body is translucent or creamy white, striped with thin lengthwise red bands; the eggs are bright green. In 2006 Rhyne and Lin split the former Lysmata wurdemanni into several species (including L. wurdemanni, L. ankeri, L. bahia and L. boggessi), told apart by their colour pattern; in 2019 a genetic study revealed a cryptic complex of at least 5, possibly 9 species. Most peppermint shrimp in the trade are not L. wurdemanni: LiveAquaria reports receiving mostly L. boggessi (Florida, Gulf of Mexico) and, depending on shipments, L. wurdemanni (Florida, Atlantic), L. ankeri (Caribbean) or L. rafa (south-western Keys). It can also be confused with the Pacific Rhynchocinetes durbanensis, which has a pointed rostrum and interspaced white stripes.
In the wild, L. wurdemanni in the strict sense was described from Key West and Charleston; it lives along the US Atlantic coast from Long Island to Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico to Port Aransas (Texas), from 0 to 37 m. These shrimp live in the vertical shafts of the reef, some in the core of tube sponges.
Reproduction: protandric simultaneous hermaphrodite. It starts as a male and may become a hermaphrodite after about four moults; some individuals stay male. As a hermaphrodite it acts as a female just after moulting and as a male between moults. Males detect pheromones released 2 to 8 hours before the moult, and the brief mating takes place on the still-soft shell. It breeds readily in captivity, with weekly batches of larvae; it is raised by commercial farms, but the larvae need specialised foods and care outside the display tank.
Aiptasia: Wikipedia says L. wurdemanni eats Aiptasia only occasionally and presents L. boggessi as the more consistent predator. According to LiveAquaria, L. boggessi has been shown to eat Aiptasia (Rhyne et al. 2004) and every species of the complex tested in the laboratory eats it, but some individuals are much keener than others. The species is not evaluated by the IUCN and not listed by CITES.
