The term “shrimp” is often used broadly in common language to describe many types of small-to-medium-sized decapod crustaceans. This general usage frequently includes creatures that scientists classify into separate taxonomic groups based on their body structure. The quest to find the world’s biggest specimen leads not to a true shrimp, but to a massive relative that highlights the sheer size variety within this group of shelled animals. The largest of these creatures stretch the definition of what most people picture when they think of a typical small, curled seafood item.
Identifying the Record Holder
The largest marine species commonly called a “shrimp” is the Giant Tiger Prawn, scientifically named Penaeus monodon. This colossal crustacean is the undisputed heavyweight champion among its commercially harvested counterparts. Females of this species are the largest, with maximum recorded lengths reaching an impressive 33 centimeters, or about 13 inches, from the tip of the rostrum to the end of the tail.
These large specimens can weigh up to 450 grams, which is nearly a full pound. To put this size into perspective, a typical commercial jumbo shrimp often measures only about six to seven inches long. The Giant Tiger Prawn’s size is significantly larger than even the largest white or pink shrimp species found in North American waters. Its body is also distinctively marked with dark, transverse stripes across its carapace and abdomen, which gives the animal its common name.
The Biological Difference Between Shrimp and Prawn
The record-holding species is technically classified as a prawn, a distinction rooted in subtle but important anatomical differences. True shrimp belong to the suborder Pleocyemata, while prawns are categorized in the suborder Dendrobranchiata. This separation is based on the creatures’ internal and external morphology, particularly the structure of their gills and the arrangement of their body segments.
Prawns possess gills that are branching, resembling small trees, whereas true shrimp have lamellar, or plate-like, gills. The way the exoskeleton segments overlap also provides a clear visual difference. A prawn’s abdominal segments overlap uniformly in a tile-like fashion from front to back, which results in a relatively straight body. In contrast, a shrimp’s body segment arrangement causes the second segment to overlap both the first and third segments, which is why shrimp naturally curl into a “C” shape when cooked or at rest.
Where the Largest Species Live
The Giant Tiger Prawn is native to the vast Indo-West Pacific Ocean, inhabiting a wide range from the eastern coast of Africa to Southeast Asia and northern Australia. This species thrives in warm, tropical waters, typically preferring temperatures between 28 and 33 degrees Celsius. The life cycle of the Giant Tiger Prawn requires two distinct habitats, which are often separated by significant distances.
Juvenile prawns spend their time in coastal estuaries and mangrove areas, where the water is often brackish and has a lower salt content. As they mature, the adults migrate to offshore marine waters. They are generally bottom-dwellers, found over muddy sand or rocky bottoms at depths most commonly ranging from 20 to 50 meters. The species exhibits nocturnal behavior in the wild, often burrowing into the substrate during daylight hours and emerging at night to feed.