Emperor Shrimp on Flamboyant Cuttlefish

Emperor Shrimps are famous for hitchhiking on other marine animals such as Sea Cucumbers and various Nudibranchs and they are frequently seen on Lembeh Strait’s beautiful black sand muck dives. But today i have seen one for the first time ever taking a ride on an adult female flamboyant cuttlefish. When photographing it the flamboyant cuttlefish got a little nervous and started to “walk” away but the shrimp stayed on it like a rodeo rider – no matter how much the flamboyant cuttlefish moved. After the cuttlefish calmed down a little bit i realized, that the shrimp always stayed on the back end of the cuttlefish’s body … and after a while i found out why: whenever the shrimp approached the cuttlefish’s head the flamboyant started to rub his tentacles over his head trying to get the shrimp off. So it seems that this symbiosis is only one sided and not desired by the flamboyant cuttlefish. But one thing is for sure: It was a great experience – like always when diving in Lembeh.