''Alpheus deuteropus'' or the petroglyph shrimp is a snapper or pistol shrimp in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Alpheidae Alpheidae (also known as the snapping shrimp, pistol shrimp or alpheid shrimp) is a family (biology), family within the shrimp infraorder Caridea characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a ...

. It lives on

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, as a

commensal Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit f ...

of corals such as ''

Porites lobata ''Porites lobata'', known by the common name lobe coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing on coral reefs in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Description ''Porites lobata'' is a hermatypic ...

''. Its presence among the lobes leaves tunnels, cracks and grooves in the surface.Marine Life Profile: Lobe Coral
Waikïkï Aquarium. Retrieved December 20, 2011. Like other snapper shrimp, one of the

cheliped A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer-shaped organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through Neo-Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are called chelipeds ...

s is much bigger than the other and is modified to make an explosive clicking noise. The body is only slightly laterally compressed and does not have a crest on the carapace. There is an orbital hood surrounding the eyes. Male shrimp can grow to .The genus ''Alpheus'' Fabricius 1798
Alpheid shrimp database. Retrieved December 20, 2011.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3933842 Alpheidae Taxa named by Franz Martin Hilgendorf Crustaceans described in 1879