{{short description|Common name applied to some types of crustaceans}} {{other uses|Prawn (disambiguation)}}[[File:Penaeus monodon.jpg|thumb|The giant tiger prawn (''Penaeus monodon'') is an important species for aquaculture.]]
'''Prawn''' is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (members of the order of decapods), some of which are edible.<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/prawn|title=Prawn|access-date=November 27, 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press & Assessment|author=Cambridge Dictionary}}</ref>
The term ''prawn''<ref name="Mortenson">Mortenson, Philip B (2010) [https://archive.org/details/thisisnotweasel00phil ''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature's most confusing terms''] Pages 106–109, John Wiley & Sons. {{ISBN|9780471273967}}.</ref> is used particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth nations, for large swimming crustaceans or shrimp, especially those with commercial significance in the fishing industry. Shrimp in this category often belong to the suborder Dendrobranchiata. In North America, the term is used less frequently, typically for freshwater shrimp. The terms ''shrimp'' and ''prawn'' themselves lack scientific standing. Over the years, the way they are used has changed, and in contemporary usage, the terms are almost interchangeable.
==''Shrimp'' vs. ''prawn''== {{transcluded section|Shrimp}} {{trim|{{#section:Shrimp|ShrimpVPrawn}}}}
==Regional distinctions== [[File:Prawns-2024.jpg|alt=prawn image|thumb|left|200px|Prawns for sale in a fish market of Kolkata]] The terms shrimp and prawn originated in Britain. In the use of common names for species, shrimp is applied to smaller species, particularly species that are dorsoventrally depressed (wider than deep) with a shorter rostrum. It is the only term used for species in the family Crangonidae, such as the common shrimp or brown shrimp, ''Crangon crangon''. Prawn is never applied to very small species. It is applied to most of the larger forms, particularly species that are laterally compressed (deeper than wide) and have a long rostrum. However, the terms are not used consistently. For example, some authors refer to ''Pandalus montagui'' as an Aesop shrimp, while others refer to it as an Aesop prawn.<ref name=Mortenson /><ref name=FAOcatintro>Holthuis, L. B. (1980) [ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/ac477e/ac477e02.pdf ''Shrimps and prawns of the world'']{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Volume I of the FAO species catalogue, Fisheries Synopsis No.125, Rome. {{ISBN|92-5-100896-5}}.</ref>
Commonwealth countries, and Ireland, tend to follow British usage. Some exceptions occur in Australia, where some authors refer to small species of the Palaemonidae as prawns and call the Alpheidae pistol shrimp. Other Australian authors have given the name banded coral shrimp to the prawn-like ''Stenopus hispidus'' and listed "the Processidae and Atyidae as shrimps, the Hippolytidae, Alpheidae, Pandalidae and Campylonotoidea as prawns".<ref name=FAOcatintro /> New Zealand broadly follows British usage. A rule of thumb given by some New Zealand authors states: "In common usage, shrimp are small, some three inches or less in length, taken for food by netting, usually from shallow water. Prawn are larger, up to 12 inches long, taken by trapping and trawling."<ref name=Richardson1958a>Richardson LR and Yaldwyn JC (1958) [http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio07Tuat01-t1-body-d5.html A Guide to the Natant Decapod Crustacea (Shrimps and Prawns) of New Zealand] ''Tuatara'', '''7''' (1).</ref> In Canada, the terms are often used interchangeably as in New Zealand (larger species are prawns, and smaller are often shrimp), but regional variations exist. South Africa and the former British colonies in Asia also seem to follow British usage generally.<ref name=FAOcatintro />
Shrimp is the more general term in the United States.<ref name=FAOcatintro /> The term prawn is less commonly used in the United States, being applied mainly to larger shrimp and those living in freshwater.<ref name=ahd>{{cite web |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=prawn |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition |date=2011 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company |access-date=21 May 2013}}</ref>
==See also== *Shrimp and prawn as food ==References== {{reflist|30em}}
===Further reading=== {{Portal|Crustaceans}} {{ref begin}} * Bauer, Raymond T. 2004 [https://books.google.com/books?id=b8YHIsnod3EC "Remarkable Shrimps: Adaptations and Natural History of the Carideans"] University of Oklahoma Press. {{ISBN|9780806135557}}. * De Grave, S., Cai, Y. & Anker, A. (2008) [https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/27702/27702.pdf "Global diversity of shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) in freshwater"] ''Hydrobiologia'', '''595 ''': 287–293. {{doi|10.1007/s10750-007-9024-2}} * {{cite book |author=R. Gillett |year=2008 |title=Global Study of Shrimp Fisheries |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |id=Fisheries Technical Paper '''475''' |location=Rome, Italy |url=https://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0300e/i0300e00.htm |isbn=978-92-5-106053-7 |ref=Gillett }} * Fransen, C. H. J. M. & De Grave, S. (2009) [https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/30946/30946.pdf "Evolution and radiation of shrimp-like decapods: an overview"] In: Martin J.W., Crandall K.A., Felder D.L. (eds.), ''Decapod Crustacean Phylogenetics''. CRC Press, pp. 246–259. * Holthuis, L. B. (1980) [https://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ac477e/ac477e00.htm ''Shrimps and prawns of the world''] Volume I of the FAO species catalogue, Fisheries synopsis '''125''', Rome. {{ISBN|92-5-100896-5}}. * Kaplan, Eugene H. (2010) [https://archive.org/details/sensuousseastale00kapl ''Sensuous Seas: Tales of a Marine Biologist''] Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|9780691125602}}. * Meyer, R., Lochner, S. & Melzer, R. R. (2009) [http://www.patagoniamarina.info/eng/Documents/Decapoda-sample.pdf Decapoda – Crabs, Shrimps & Lobsters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092414/http://www.patagoniamarina.info/eng/Documents/Decapoda-sample.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }} pp. 623–670 In: Häussermann, V. and Förster, G. (eds) ''Marine Benthic Fauna of Chilean Patagonia: Illustrated Identification Guide'', Nature in Focus. {{ISBN|9789563322446}}. * Poore, Gary (2004) [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZWnuGc0xlMC ''Marine Decapod Crustacea of Southern Australia: A Guide to Identification''] Csiro Publishing. {{ISBN|9780643099258}}. * Fearnley-Whittingstall, H. & Fisher, N. (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=2lBxWxua9H0C&q=prawn ''The River Cottage Fish Book''] Page 541–543, Bloomsbury Publishing. {{ISBN|9780747588696}}. * Roberts, Callum (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=hhYa4as60EcC&q=%22The+unnatural+history+of+the+sea%22 ''The unnatural history of the sea''] Island Press. {{ISBN|9781597265775}}. * Rudloe, Jack and Rudloe, Anne (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=rpRq7CoXQo0C&q=shrimp ''Shrimp: The Endless Quest for Pink Gold''] FT Press. {{ISBN|9780137009725}}. * Ruppert, E. E., Fox, R. S. & Barnes, R. D. (2004) [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780030259821 <!-- quote=Invertebrate zoology: A functional evolutionary approach. --> ''Invertebrate zoology: A functional evolutionary approach''] 7th edition, Thomson-Brooks/Cole. {{ISBN|9780030259821}}. * {{cite book |author =Frederick Schram |year=1986 |title=The Crustacea |isbn=978-90-04-12918-4 |publisher=Oxford University Press|author-link=Frederick Schram }} {{ref end}}
==External links== {{Commons category-multi|Dendrobranchiata|Caridea}} * [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=shrimp%2Cprawn&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3 Shrimp versus prawn] [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=shrimp%2Clobster%2Ccrab&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3 shrimp, lobster, crab] ngrams * 16px [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eBJWxVQV5A&feature=player_embedded Shrimp versus prawns] – YouTube
{{shrimps and prawns|state=expanded}} {{commercial fish topics}} {{edible crustaceans}}
Category:Animal-based seafood Category:Commercial crustaceans Category:Decapods Category:Edible crustaceans Category:Arthropod common names