Crangon crangon

{{Short description|Species of shrimp}} {{Speciesbox | image = Crangon crangon Sandgarnele.jpg | image2 = Crangon crangon.jpg | genus = Crangon | species = crangon | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms ={{collapsible list| *''Astacus crangon'' (Linnaeus, 1758) *''Cancer crangon'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Crago vulgaris'' (Fabricius, 1798) *''Crangon maculatus'' Marcusen, 1867 *''Crangon maculosa'' Rathke, 1837 *''Crangon rubropunctatus'' Risso, 1816 *''Crangon vulgaris'' Fabricius, 1798 *''Steiracrangon orientalis'' Czerniavsky, 1884 }} | synonyms_ref =  <ref name="FAO"/> }}

'''''Crangon crangon''''' is a species of caridean shrimp found across the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from the White Sea in the north of Russia to the coast of Morocco, including the Baltic Sea, and appears also throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas.<ref name="FAO">{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/figis/servlet/species?fid=3435 |title=''Crangon crangon'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |work=Species Fact Sheets |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=June 24, 2011 |archive-date=May 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527212929/http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/3435/en |url-status=dead }}</ref> Commercially important, it is fished mainly in the southern North Sea. Common names include '''brown shrimp''',<ref name="Lagardère 1982">{{cite journal |last1=Lagardère |first1=J. P. |title=Effects of noise on growth and reproduction of Crangon crangon in rearing tanks |journal=Marine Biology |date=1982 |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=177–185 |doi=10.1007/BF00394627|s2cid=80913454 }}</ref> '''common shrimp''', '''bay shrimp''', and '''sand shrimp''', while translation of its French name ''{{lang|fr|crevette grise}}'' (or its Dutch equivalent ''{{lang|nl|grijze garnaal}}'') sometimes leads to the English version '''grey shrimp'''. Krangṓn (κραγγών) is an Ancient Greek word for shrimp.

==Description== {{Missing information||unique features not present in other Crangon species|date=February 2026|small=left}} [[File:Crangon crangon (chelae).jpg|thumb|left|upright|The chelae of ''C. crangon'' from below]] Adults are typically {{convert|30|-|50|mm|abbr=on}} long, although individuals up to {{convert|90|mm|abbr=on}} have been recorded.<ref name="ARKive">{{cite web |url=http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_marine/Crangon_crangon/ |title=''Crangon crangon'' |publisher=ARKive |access-date=June 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517033109/http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_marine/Crangon_crangon/ |archive-date=2008-05-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The animals have cryptic colouration, being a sandy brown colour, which can be changed to match the environment.<ref name="ARKive"/>

''Crangon'' is classified in the family Crangonidae, and shares the family's characteristic subchelate first pereiopods (where the movable finger closes onto a short projection rather than a similarly sized, fixed "finger") and short rostrum.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Joana Campos |author2=Cláudia Moreira |author3=Fabiana Freitas |author4=Henk W. van der Veer |name-list-style=amp |year=2012 |title=Short review of the eco-geography of ''Crangon'' |journal=Journal of Crustacean Biology |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=159–169 |doi=10.1163/193724011X615569|doi-access=free }}</ref>

They live in shallow water, which can also be slightly brackish, and feed nocturnally.<ref name="ARKive"/> During the day, they remain buried in the sand to escape predatory birds and fish, with only their antennae protruding.

==Distribution and ecology== [[File:Ecomare - gewone garnalen (gewone-garnalen-in-zand--sdw 05).jpg|thumb|Aggregation]] ''C. crangon'' has a wide range, extending across the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from the White Sea in the north of Russia to the coast of Morocco, including the Baltic Sea, as well as occurring throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Joana Campos |author2=Vânia Freitas |author3=Cindy Pedros |author4=Rita Guillot |author5=Henk W. van der Veer |name-list-style=amp |year=2009 |title=Latitudinal variation in growth of ''Crangon crangon'' (L.): does counter-gradient growth compensation occur? |journal=Journal of Sea Research |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=229–237 |doi=10.1016/j.seares.2009.04.002|bibcode=2009JSR....62..229C }}</ref> Despite its wide range, however, little gene flow occurs across certain natural barriers, such as the Strait of Gibraltar or the Bosphorus.<ref name="Luttikhuizen">{{cite journal |author=Pieternella C. Luttikhuizen |author2=Joana Campos |author3=Judith van Bleijswijk |author4=Katja T.C.A. Peijnenburg |author5=Henk W. van der Veer |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=Phylogeography of the common shrimp, ''Crangon crangon'' (L.) across its distribution range |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=1015–1030 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2007.11.011 |pmid=18207428}}</ref> The populations in the western Mediterranean Sea are thought to be the oldest, with the species' spread across the north Atlantic thought to postdate the Pleistocene.<ref name="Luttikhuizen"/>

Adults live epibenthically (on or near the sea floor) especially in the shallow waters of estuaries or near the coast.<ref name="Campos_etal_09">{{cite journal |author=Joana Campos |author2=Cindy Pedrosa |author3=Joana Rodrigues |author4=Sílvia Santos |author5=Johanses I. J. Witte |author6=Paulo Santos |author7=Henk W. van der Veer |name-list-style=amp |year=2009 |title=Population zoogeography of brown shrimp ''Crangon crangon'' along its distributional range based on morphometric characters |journal=Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=499–507 |doi=10.1017/S0025315408002312|s2cid=86803810 }}</ref> It is generally highly abundant, and has a significant effect on the ecosystems where it lives.<ref name="Campos_etal_09"/>

==Lifecycle== Females reach sexual maturity at a length around {{convert|22|-|43|mm|abbr=on}}, while males are mature at {{convert|30|-|45|mm|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Campos_Veer">{{cite book |author=Joana Campos |author2=Henk W. van der Veer |name-list-style=amp |title=Autecology of ''Crangon crangon'' (L.) with an emphasis on latitudinal trends |journal=Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review |volume=46 |editor1=R. N. Gibson |editor2=R. J. A. Atkinson |editor3=J. D. M. Gordon |publisher=CRC Press |year=2008 |pages=65–104 |isbn= 978-1-4200-6575-6 |doi=10.1201/9781420065756.ch3|doi-broken-date=11 July 2025 }}</ref> The young hatch from their eggs into planktonic larvae. These pass through five moults before reaching the postlarval stage, when they settle to the sea-floor.<ref name="Campos_Veer"/>

==Relation to humans== [[File:Crangon crangon wild capture series.png|thumb|Global capture of ''C. crangon'' in tonnes reported by the FAO, 1950–2010 <ref name=FAOdata>Based on data sourced from the [http://faostat.fao.org/site/629/default.aspx FishStat database], FAO.</ref>]]

Historically, the commercial fishery was accomplished by horse-drawn beam trawls on both sides of the Dover straits.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Charlier |first1=Roger H |title=Crangon crangon, endangered or merely on a via dolorosa? |journal=Academy of Romanian Scientists Annals Series on Biology Sciences |volume=1 |issue=1 |date=2012 |pages=31–58 |issn=2285-4177 |url=http://www.aos.ro/site_mod/Editura/2012/Analenr1pe2012Biologieonline.pdf#page=31 |access-date=2015-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402142904/http://www.aos.ro/site_mod/Editura/2012/Analenr1pe2012Biologieonline.pdf#page=31 |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the sandy shallows of Morecambe Bay (Lancashire, UK) horses have been replaced by tractors. Some small fishing vessels also use beam trawls for brown shrimp. A few artisanal fishermen use hand-pushed nets. In all UK shrimp fisheries, the catch is first 'riddled' to release the young of shrimps and fish. The shrimps are then traditionally boiled on board before landing.

Over {{convert|37,000|t|e6lb|abbr=unit}} of ''C. crangon'' were caught in 1999, with Germany and the Netherlands taking over 80% of this total.<ref name="FAO"/>

The UK lands an annual average of 1000 tonnes of brown shrimp, but the catch is highly variable between 500 and 1500 tonnes.<ref name="Catchpole2008">{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/icesjms/fsn016|title=Evaluating the efficacy of technical measures: A case study of selection device legislation in the UK Crangon crangon (Brown shrimp) fishery |year=2008 |last1=Catchpole |first1=Tom L. |last2=Revill |first2=Andrew S. |last3=Innes |first3=James |last4=Pascoe |first4=Sean |journal=ICES Journal of Marine Science |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=267–275 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In the Lancashire fishery for brown shrimp it has been shown that landings in any year are related to the annual catch, average annual air temperature (inverse) and total rainfall in the previous year. That has enabled a good prediction of annual landings one year in advance.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976ECMS....4..567D/abstract | bibcode=1976ECMS....4..567D | title=Prediction of fluctuations in the landings of brown shrimp ( Crangon crangon) in the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries District | last1=Driver | first1=Paul A. | journal=Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science | year=1976 | volume=4 | issue=5 | page=567 | doi=10.1016/0302-3524(76)90031-1 }}</ref> Moreover, for the port of Lytham, the abundance of shrimp (annual catch per unit effort) was found to be closely correlated with the mean annual Zürich sunspot number for the period 1965-1975.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/BF00388927|title=The prediction of shrimp landings from sunspot activity |year=1978 |last1=Driver |first1=P. A. |journal=Marine Biology |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=359–361 |s2cid=83763670 }}</ref> Given that sunspot numbers are predictable, this provides another tool for the prediction of annual shrimp catch. Sunspot cycle No. 23 (1997–2008) is a good example of the correlation between UK annual brown shrimp catch and mean annual sunspot number.<ref name="Catchpole2008"/>

Greenpeace Germany classifies the brown shrimp as an "unsustainable" choice that should be avoided.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.greenpeace.de/sites/default/files/publications/20160120_greenpeace_fischratgeber_2016_0.pdf |title=Fisch Einkaufsratgeber |lang=de |work=Greenpeace |trans-title=Fish Shopping Advisor |date=January 2016 |access-date=3 January 2023}}</ref> Brown shrimp have been documented to contain microplastics.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Microplastic contamination in brown shrimp (Crangon crangon, Linnaeus 1758) from coastal waters of the Southern North Sea and Channel area |year=2015 |pmid=26456303 |last1=Devriese |first1=L. I. |last2=Van Der Meulen |first2=M. D. |last3=Maes |first3=T. |last4=Bekaert |first4=K. |last5=Paul-Pont |first5=I. |last6=Frère |first6=L. |last7=Robbens |first7=J. |last8=Vethaak |first8=A. D. |journal=Marine Pollution Bulletin |volume=98 |issue=1–2 |pages=179–187 |doi=10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.051 }}</ref>

===As food=== thumb|left|A bowl of brown shrimp served as a snack The consumption of brown shrimp is popular in Belgium, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark.

Shrimp in general are known as ''garnalen'' in Dutch. It is the basis of the dish ''tomate-crevettes'', where the shrimp are mixed with mayonnaise and fresh parsley, and served in a hollowed-out uncooked tomato. The shrimp croquette is another Belgian speciality; the shrimp are in the interior of the battered croquette along with béchamel sauce. Freshly cooked, unpeeled brown shrimp are often served as a snack accompanying beer, typically a sour ale or Flemish red such as Rodenbach.<ref>{{cite web|title=Les crevettes grises|publisher=Eating.be|url=http://www.eating.be/fr/home/article/393|access-date=September 13, 2012|language=fr|archive-date=October 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011055551/http://www.eating.be/fr/home/article/393|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Lancashire, England, the peeled brown shrimps are mixed with butter and spices (including nutmeg or mace) to make potted shrimps, a dish traditionally eaten with bread.<ref>{{cite book|year=2005|last=Paston-Williams|first=Sara|title=Fish: Recipes from a Busy Island|place=London|publisher=National Trust|page=140|chapter=Morecambe Bay shrimps|isbn=0-7078-0357-8}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Crangon crangon|''Crangon crangon''}} {{Wikispecies|Crangon crangon|''Crangon crangon''}} * {{cite thesis |author=Joana Costa Vilhena de Bessa Campos |year=2009 |title=The eco-geography of the brown shrimp ''Crangon crangon'' in Europe |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-865-9350-7 |url=http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/handle/1871/16129}} * {{SealifePhotos|107552}}

Category:Caridea Category:Commercial crustaceans Category:Crustaceans described in 1758 Category:Crustaceans of Europe Category:Caridea of the Atlantic Ocean Category:Edible crustaceans Category:Extant Pleistocene first appearances Category:Quaternary animals of Europe Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Crangonidae