Hobbies And Interests
Brown Shrimp
Brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) are pale brown in color, and have a characteristic set of spines on the carapace of their heads. This species is primarily caught for food in the Gulf of Mexico. By weight, over half the commercial shrimp taken in the United States belong to this species, according to the online database Search Life Forms. Brown shrimp are better at tolerating cold temperatures than other commercial shrimp species because they burrow into the muddy bottom to survive.
White Shrimp
White shrimp (Penaeus setiferus) are caught commercially in brackish waters along the coast, from North Carolina to Louisiana. They prefer waters where the bottom is muddy. The most productive season for harvesting white shrimp is in the fall, when offspring that were spawned in the spring are collected. However, the population and commercial availability of white shrimp fluctuates more annually than for other species, primarily due to loss of spawning stocks in unusually cold temperatures, according to South Carolina DNR.
Pink Shrimp
Pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum), in spite of their name, can be gray, reddish brown, or variable in color. They are caught commercially in North Carolina and Florida. Pink shrimp are small in comparison to many other shrimp species, and they are marketed as what are known as "cocktail shrimp." The juveniles of this species prefer to live in water where the bottom substrate is sand or shell. Pink shrimp are also nocturnal, and migrate off the bottom at night to feed. The shrimp trawl boats that catch these shrimp therefore work mainly during the day, to catch the shrimp when they are concentrated on the bottom of the ocean, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife..