Shrimp have germinate a reputation as the appetizers of the ocean . They ’re an ideal finger food , easily dipped into cocktail sauce , and if you eat enough of them , it can make a repast . Shrimp is even more popular in America than tuna , with Americanseatingan average of four pounds of the delicious lilliputian crustacean every twelvemonth .
Few hoi polloi , however , ask forprawncocktail orprawnscampi . While prawns seem virtually monovular to shrimp , they seem to have yen in popular culture . So what ’s the remainder between runt and prawns ?
grant toFood & Wine , both shrimp and shrimp are decapods , each with 10 leg and an external skeleton . But that ’s largely where the similarity terminate . prawn are in the decapod suborder Dendrobranchiata , with claws on three pairs of leg , large petty pincer . Their gill furcate out and their physical structure — which are typically larger than a shrimp’s — are less curving , and they mostly come from fresh water habitats .
Shrimp , in demarcation , have a more distinctive bend to their bodies thanks to the 2d segment of their shelloverlappingthe first and third segments . They also have one fewer pair of claws plus plate - like gills and large front pincers , and typically , they come from saltwater environments .
Once they ’re out of their shells , those details become irrelevant . half-pint and prawns have a nearlyidentical taste , though some people might be able to notice a slightly sweeter flavor to prawns . Shrimphasbecomemore of a stop - all term for both crustaceans in northerly states , while southerly states and other countries like the UK and Irelandfavorthe termprawn . So while you might be getting one , the other , or both in eating house , in terms of linguistics , shrimp tacojust does n’t have the same ringing to it .
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A version of this story run in 2019 ; it has been update for 2023 .
