Good Fish Guide
Brown shrimp
(Crangon crangon)
Also known as: Common shrimp
Overview
Crangon crangon, the common or brown shrimp, is found in mainly shallow water along the Eastern Atlantic coast as far south as Morocco, and into the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It grows to about 8cm, with length at maturity between 35-50mm. Lifespan is 4-5 years, with females living longer. They mature within their first year of life. It has a relatively fast growth rate of 14mm per month during the first couple of months. Similar to lobsters and crabs, females carry their eggs on their abdominal appendages (the pleopods) for a period of 4-13 weeks, depending on temperature. Egg-bearing (berried) females can be found for 46 weeks of the year, but there are two peaks in numbers of berried females in the southern North Sea, and one in the Irish Sea. Peak reproductive periods occur between April and September, when females carry up to 4,500 small 'summer' eggs. The number of berried females decreases sharply in September, but then increases again in October/November as females produce up to 2,800 larger 'winter' eggs. Brown shrimp Crangon crangon is a major food item found in cod and whiting stomachs, and is itself an important predator of in- and epifauna in intertidal areas that is assumed to control plaice and mussel recruitment.
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