Lysiosquilloides mapia

Scientific name : Lysiosquilloides mapia

Large spearer (20 cm), normally the male's head can be seen, showing up from a U shaped burrow, brilliant orange in colour, with elongated cone tipped eyes. The abdomen, always hidden, is orange with yellow stripes. More commonly seen on black volcanic sand, it can live also on coral sand. Possible confusione with some closely related species, in particular with Lysiosquillina lisa, the latter being white marbled orange-brown in colour, and has oval eyes, with rounded tips.
This species has been described by (Erdmann & Boyer, 2003), on the basis of a specimen collected in front of Mapia resort, Manado. The specific adjective comes from a word whose meaning is "beautiful" in an Indonesian dialect.

Associated organisms
We observed a specimen associated with a tiny white Alpheidae shrimp. The shrimp moves freely on the head of Lysiosquilloides mapia, being protected. We do not know which the benefit for the mantis shrimp, if any. We would exclude a cleaning action (mantis shrimps, provided with many appendages, can perfectly clean themselves).

	Description	Author	Place	Size
	Lysiosquilloides mapia	DANIELE IOP	Indonesia, Manado	416 kB