Hawai‘i’s vibrant coral reefs are host to many colorful characters, but few are as bizarre as the banded coral shrimp (Stenopus hispidus). Easily distinguished by its red and white-banded body, slender long pinchers, and hair-like antennas, this cleaner shrimp, ‘ōpae kai in Hawaiian, is anything but inconspicuous. Its diet consists of parasites, fungi, algae, and other damaged tissue that it claws off the skin of reef fish, which these fish are only too willing to provide.

The banded coral shrimp, also known as banded cleaner shrimp and boxer shrimp due to its resemblance of a boxer when it feels threatened and stretches its pincers, ranges throughout the tropics and into some temperate areas of the Atlantic and South Pacific. They are usually found in shallow waters, but it will travel as low as 200 feet in depth. They are one of the most common types of shrimp around the islands and dwell in coral reef to rock ledges and crevices.