Shrimp: The Ocean's Tiny Giants

Shrimp are red in color and natural swimmers. They possess as many as ten legs! Shrimp are crustaceans classified into the infra-order Caridea, arthropods with a highly segmented body. They form large schools and swim rapidly in unison.

A school of shrimp swimming together in clear ocean water
Shrimp form large schools and swim rapidly in unison, a key defense against predators.

What Do Shrimp Eat During Their Life Cycle?

The life of a shrimp starts as one of the 50,000 to 1 million eggs laid by a shrimp mother. The eggs hatch in about 24 hours, giving birth to baby shrimp called nauplii. At this stage they survive on yolk reserves that they inherit from the egg stage.

Tiny shrimp nauplii larvae floating in clear water, barely 1 mm long with dark eyes visible
Nauplii (the first larval stage of a shrimp) are barely visible to the naked eye and survive on egg yolk.

After using up their yolk reserves, nauplii undergo the first metamorphosis into the second stage of their life cycle: zoeae. This is the true larval stage. Shrimp as zoeae largely feed on water algae.

Next, this larval stage transforms into the third stage of growth, called myses. At this point the baby shrimp start looking like miniature versions of their future adult selves. What do shrimp eat in the myses stage? They feed on algae again, and on zooplankton. In a total of about twelve days they mature into young shrimp, which continue feeding on zooplankton mostly, living at the bottom of the sea floor.

Test Your Shrimp Knowledge!

5 quick questions about shrimp, their diet, life cycle, and how they differ from prawns.

Difference Between Shrimp and Prawns

Shrimp should not be confused with prawns, even though they look quite similar. Although they are close cousins on the evolutionary tree, they differ in gill structure and the structure of the second abdominal segment, the clearest way to tell the two apart.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do baby shrimp eat?

Newborn shrimp (nauplii) survive on yolk reserves from the egg. Later larvae (zoeae) eat water algae, and the myses stage feeds on algae and zooplankton.

How are shrimp different from prawns?

Shrimp and prawns differ in gill structure and the structure of the second abdominal segment, even though they look very similar.

What order do shrimp belong to?

Shrimp are crustaceans classified in the infra-order Caridea, arthropods with a highly segmented body and up to ten legs.

A shrimp and a prawn photographed side by side on white background, showing differences in body segments and claw size
Shrimp (left) and prawns (right) look similar but have different gill structures and second abdominal segments.

In common use, many people call anything small a "shrimp" and anything large a "prawn", but this is a geographic habit, not biology. The real difference lies inside their bodies. In crustaceans like these, the abdominal segment structure is a key identification feature.

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Shrimp as Food

Shrimp are rich in calcium, iodine, and proteins as food sources. They are considered good for the blood circulatory system because they have a low content of saturated fats and calories. There are many species of shrimp found all over the world, and millions of tons of shrimp are caught each year around the world.