Bahamas Shrimp

Bahamas has a variety of aquatic activities to offer to its visitors; whether they are stopping in on a port of call from one of those mega cruise ships or just dropping in from a flight. Bahamas snorkeling is one of the most popular activity you would want to put on your "to do" list to enjoy, before leaving this beautiful island surrounded by crystal clear, turquoise, colored water. The waters off the beaches are perfect for snorkeling. There are about dozen or so Bahamas snorkeling excursions that provide daily trips to beaches on the Grand Bahamas and the outer islands. One of these spots is a place called "The Dock" located at Small Hope Bay. Visitors snorkeling here will see the underwater ruins of a previous dock and they will most likely see a colorful critter about 1 to 2 inches in length known as the red-banded shrimp crawling among the ruins along with gobies.

These beautiful shrimps, sometimes called candy stripe shrimp because of their candy stripe coloration or by the more threatening name, pistol shrimp, have an unusual large pincer on its left appendage. The left pincer is larger than the right one for a peculiar reason and it is not just for fighting another guy. The shrimp uses its left pincer to produce a loud clicking noise by opening and closing this modified pincer. This action of the pincer also shoots a stream of water to scare off predators and to knock out preys for dinner. Fortunately, the red-banded shrimp has gobies as a friend to provide him food when he chooses not to work or fight for it. So the next time you hear a loud clicking sound coming from the water it is that colorful, little invertebrate walking around on the bottom.