Marine life  /  Shrimps  /  Donald Duck shrimp
Reviewed 2026-09-05
Species entry

Donald Duck shrimp

Leander plumosus

Transparent, long-nosed and almost invisible on silt until the eyes catch the light.

Size
To 5 cm
Depth
3–25 m
Habitat
Silt and burrow entrances
Active
Night
Range
Indo-Pacific
Rarity
Lembeh Strait
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
SP-01
donald duck shrimp · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

A slender palaemonid to about 5 cm, almost entirely transparent apart from fine lines of red and white along the body and a scatter of white spots. The rostrum is long, upturned and toothed along both edges, projecting well beyond the eyes, and the resemblance of that profile to a cartoon bill is where the common name comes from. Against silt the animal reads as a shadow with two eyes in it, and it is usually found by the eyeshine rather than by the body.

A soft-bottom animal, found on open silt and around the entrances of worm and shrimp burrows, most often at night when it comes clear of cover. It occurs singly and does not appear to be tied to a host, which separates it from most of the other photogenic shrimps on this list. Recorded from about 3 to 25 m. Being transparent it is one of the harder subjects on a muck site — a snoot from the side gives an outline where a straight-on strobe gives a pane of glass — and it walks steadily rather than holding still.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Lembeh Strait Indonesia editorial estimate
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Year-round
3–25 m
Silt and burrow entrances

Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.

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