Whiteleg shrimp (''Litopenaeus vannamei'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

''Penaeus vannamei''), also known as Pacific white shrimp or King prawn, is a species of

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...

of the eastern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

commonly caught or farmed for

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

Description

''L. vannamei'' grows to a maximum length of , with a

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

length of . Adults live in the ocean, at depths to , while juveniles live in

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environme ...

. The

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships * Ros ...

is moderately long, with 7–10 teeth on the dorsal side and two to four teeth on the ventral side.

Distribution and habitat

Whiteleg shrimp are native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, from the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

to as far south as northern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. It is restricted to areas where the water temperatures remain above throughout the year.

Fishery and aquaculture

During the 20th century, ''L. vannamei'' was an important species for Mexican

inshore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water pas ...

fishermen, as well as for trawlers further offshore. In the late 20th century, the wild fishery was overtaken by the development of

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

production; this began in 1973 in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

using prawns captured in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, that were used in hatcheries for larvae production. In Latin America, the culture of ''L. vannamei'' started to develop with the availability of hatchery larvae, the development of feeds, the technification of the growth processes, the freezing installations and market channels, among others. From Mexico to Peru most countries developed in the 70s and 80s large production areas. Ecuador became one of the world leaders producers of this type of shrimp. Around the beginning of the millennia, Asia introduced this species in their aquaculture operations (changing from ''

Penaeus monodon ''Penaeus monodon'', commonly known as the giant tiger prawn, Asian tiger shrimp, black tiger shrimp, and other names, is a marine crustacean that is widely reared for food. Taxonomy ''Penaeus monodon'' was first described by Johan Christian ...

''). China, Vietnam, India and others have become major packers as well. The packing of shrimp from aquaculture origin has overpassed the quantity of ocean caught wild shrimp in recent years. Both origins, ocean caught and aquaculture, are subject to weather changes and diseases. By 2004, global production of ''L. vannamei'' approached 1,116,000 t, and exceeded that of ''

''. ''L. vannamei'' have been cultivated indoors through a recirculating aquaculture systems at TransparentSea Farm, a startup in

Downey Downey may refer to: People * Downey (surname) *Robert Downey Jr. Places *Downey, California, US * Downey, Idaho, US * Downey, Iowa, US Businesses * W. & D. Downey, photographic studio * Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant Scho ...

, California.

Weather effect

Normally, there are peaks of production during the warm

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date ...

years, and reduced production during the cooler La Niña years. The effect is on ocean caught as well as on aquaculture origin.

Diseases

There are several known diseases. Production of ''L. vannamei'' is limited by its susceptibility to

white spot syndrome White spot syndrome (WSS) is a viral infection of penaeid shrimp. The disease is highly lethal and contagious, killing shrimp quickly. Outbreaks of this disease have wiped out the entire populations of many shrimp farms within a few days, in pla ...

Taura syndrome Taura syndrome (TS) is one of the more devastating diseases affecting the shrimp farming industry worldwide. It was first described in Ecuador during the summer of 1992. In March 1993, it returned as a major epidemic and was the object of extens ...

infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis (IHHN) is a viral disease of penaeid shrimp that causes mass mortality (up to 90%) among the Western blue shrimp ('' Penaeus stylirostris'') and severe deformations in the Pacific white shrimp ('' ...

, baculoviral midgut gland necrosis, and ''

Vibrio ''Vibrio'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, possessing a curved-rod (comma) shape, several species of which can cause foodborne infection, usually associated with eating undercooked seafood. Being highly salt tolerant and unable to survive ...

'' infections.

Impact on nature

In 2010,

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

International added the whiteleg shrimp to its seafood red list. This lists fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries.Greenpeace International Seafood Red list
/ref> The reasons given by Greenpeace were "destruction of vast areas of

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in sever ...

in several countries, overfishing of juvenile shrimp from the wild to supply

shrimp farm Shrimp farming is an aquaculture business that exists in either a marine or freshwater environment, producing shrimp or prawns (crustaceans of the groups Caridea or Dendrobranchiata) for human consumption. Marine Commercial marine shrimp farmin ...

s, and significant

human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of h ...

". In 2016, ''L. vannamei'' accounted for 53% of the total production of farmed crustaceans globally.

References

External links

Thailand's White Shrimp Revolution
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3002564 Penaeidae Edible crustaceans Commercial crustaceans Crustaceans of the eastern Pacific Ocean Crustaceans described in 1931