Vir coral shrimp:
Vir smiti: reddish/pinkish antennae and lines on legs. Vir philippinensis and Vir smiti seem rather hard to tell apart for sport divers. It's on my bucket list now.
smiti vs. philippinensis:
From @franca2020: “They told me (in Romblon) that it is the newly described Vir smitti. I think mostly because of the dark red instead of purple. I will add some differences in colour to V. philippinensis from a paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Vir-smiti-spec.-nov.%2C-a-new-scleractinian-shrimp-Fransen-Holthuis/06851af41dd72b62b62fd92ecfc715f33b8b1eb5
After reading these, I am not sure it is V. smiti because I can't see the two first pereiopods being completely transparent! from the paper: Differences in colouration between V. smiti and V. philippinensis:- Antennular flagella red-brown in V. smiti; basally purple-blue and distally red in V. philippinensis.
- With yellow chromatophores between eyes and anterior appendages in V. smiti; without yellow chromatophores in V. philippinensis.
- First two pereiopods completely transparent in V. smiti; with purple-blue longitudinal thin line in V. philippinensis.
- Third to fifth pereiopods with red-brown thin longitudinal lines in V. smiti; with purple-blue lines in V. philippinensis.
- Uropods transparent in V. smiti; lateral margin of exopod of uropods with purpleblue line in V. philippinensis.”
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