Cleaner Shrimps Act As Manicurists June 23, 2011 by lukesheppard

Sea Life Centre in Scarborough has opened a new tropical pool, featuring cleaner shrimps. The “beautiful” shrimps serve as new manicurists at the tropical touchpool. They perch on visitors’ finger tips and clean up their cuticles. The first 10 guests at the pool received a free cleaner shrimp manicure, nail experts from the Crown Spa Hotel then completed the process giving it a professional touch.

Lyndsey Crawford, displays curator at Scarborough Sea Life Centre, said: “In the wild, these beautiful shrimps run cleaning stations for a variety of tropical fish. They eat any dead scales, ridding them of parasites. “It seems any dead or flaky skin around human finger nails is just as appetising for a hungry cleaner shrimp. All people have to do is dip their hands in their tank and hey presto, a free manicure.”