Narrative

Commercial shrimps (Family Penaeidae) contain the following well-known species which are found along the eastern coast of the United States:

Penaeus aztecus - Brown Shrimp - Mass to Texas
Penaeus duorarum - Pink Night Shrimp - Chesapeake to Yucatan
Penaeus setiferus - White Shrimp - New York to Mexico

Brown Shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) (Not pictured) can be recognized by the brown (sometimes paler) color. The spines on the bottom of the rostrum are characteristic of the genus. (The rostrum is the forward pointing head spine. This species can be up to 23.6 centimeters in length. Although this species has been found as far north as New England, it is primarily caught for food in the Gulf of Mexico. Over half the poundage of commercial shrimp taken in the United States belongs to this species.

Pink Night Shrimp (Penaeus duorarum)(Not pictured) is found from the Chesapeake Bay to Yucatan, Mexico. This species can be up to twenty-eight centimeters in length. It is caught commercially in North Carolina and Florida. The color is gray, reddish brown, or variable.

White Shrimp (Penaeus setiferus) (Not pictured) is found from New York to Florida, Louisiana and Mexico. It is found primarily in brackish waters along the coast. It is caught commercially from North Carolina to Louisiana. In the 1930s, almost ninety-five percent of the commercial shrimp catch belonged to this species.

Taxonomy

References