Description
Alien 15 – a post-larval Banded Coral Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus).
Banded coral shrimp are well known to scuba divers and aquarists alike, for their interesting behavior or cleaning larger fish by picking off dead scales and parasites. This youngling is not quite ready for that yet, as the post-larval stage is a transitional period. It’s molted enough times to be ready to settle onto the reef, but likely hasn’t yet received the chemical cues in the water that signify it’s time to descend out of the water column onto the reef, and begin life as a cleaner. Those impressive antennae are how it signals to larger fish that they offer a service, and almost every species recognizes that as a signal to not eat them. Honestly, you really shouldn’t eat your dentist – its just not good form.
Behavior-wise, a banded coral shrimp really doesn’t react very much at all to my presence while it’s up in the plankton layer. My bright lights have no discernable effect on it, which is in stark contrast to almost every other type of shrimp that I encounter in the blackness. This specimen is about 8cm across including it’s legs, and it’s antennae span more than 30cm. It will get about triple this size as an adult on the reef.
For printing, we offer the Aliens as squares on either aluminum or canvas, but they are customizable into other shapes if your design plan requires it. You can purchase this luxury wall art online in standard sizes, but if you’d like to discuss a custom crop or size, please contact one of our design consultants at the art gallery. Perhaps our most popular arrangement for Aliens is a grouping of three of our 15″ x 15″ aluminums, but I encourage you to discuss the size & shape of your project’s wall with one of our design consultants, who will help you develop an amazing contemporary art installation that blurs the lines between natural beauty and scientific fascination. Alien 15 is available up to a maximum size of 96″.