Biodiversity & Conservation

Brown shrimp - Crangon crangon - General information

Crangon crangon

Image John Rundle - Crangon crangon on shell fragments and gravel (from above). Image width ca 6 cm.
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Distribution map

Crangon crangon recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Crangon crangon is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Ken Neal Text page icon Refereed by: This information is not refereed.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods, joint-legged animals, e.g. insects, crustaceans & spiders
Class Malacostraca Crabs, lobsters, sand hoppers and sea slaters
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Found on sandy and muddy bottoms around all British and Irish coasts.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Crangon crangon is found on sandy and muddy ground, showing a preference for grain sizes between 125 and 710 µm and is often buried with only the eyes and antennae above the sediment surface (Pinn & Ansell, 1993).
Text page icon Description The brown shimp, Crangon crangon is a long thin animal, mottled brown in colour, narrowing from a wide anterior end to a fanned tail. It is up to 8.5 cm in length and can be distinguished from most other shrimps and prawns by the short blunt-ended rostrum between the eyes. The colour can be varied by chromatophores depending on the colour of the substratum. It is somewhat dorsoventrally flattened compared to most other shrimps and prawns. The main antennae are almost as long as the body.

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal 2008. Crangon crangon. Brown shrimp. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 25/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3078>