Petroglyph shrimp
Alpheus deuteropus
- Usual depth7–15 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsOctober
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Alpheus deuteropus or the petroglyph shrimp is a snapper or pistol shrimp in the family Alpheidae. It lives on coral reefs in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and in the Red Sea, as a commensal of corals such as Porites lobata. Its presence among the lobes leaves tunnels, cracks and grooves in the surface.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Alpheus deuteropus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 7 records
- February: 103 records
- March: 26 records
- April: 10 records
- May: 12 records
- June: 4 records
- July: 7 records
- August: 4 records
- September: 129 records
- October: 232 records
- November: 8 records
- December: 9 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 7–15 m · Deepest record: 17.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Tyler Bishop, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Rose Zappa, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Valentin Moser, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) psweet, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Petroglyph shrimp, petroglyph shrimp, Petroglyph Snapping Shrimp
Names in 2 more languages
- Spanish
- Camarón pistola Petroglifo
- Japanese
- キヌゲテッポウエビ
Similar species
Coral snapping shrimpAlpheus lottini
- Japanese snapping shrimp
Alpheus japonicus
Narrow snapping shrimpAlpheus astrinx
teppo snapping shrimpAlpheus brevicristatus
Djedda Snapping ShrimpAlpheus djeddensis
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 482 open-data records from 1879 to 2012.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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