Pandalus borealis

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iPandalus borealis

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Caridea
Family: Pandalidae
Genus: Pandalus
Species: P. borealis
Binomial name
Pandalus borealis
Krøyer, 1838

Pandalus borealis (also called Pandalus eous) is a species of shrimp found in cold parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Many different English names are used, with little consensus (deep-water shrimp, cold-water shrimp, northern shrimp, Alaskan pink shrimp, pink shrimp, northern red shrimp). Often the word shrimp is replaced by prawn, albeit incorrectly.

A heap of P. borealis
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A heap of P. borealis

P. borealis is an important food resource, and has been widely fished, since the early 1900s in Norway, and later on in other countries, following Johan Hjort's practical discoveries. Its distribution in the Atlantic ranges from New England, Canada's eastern seaboard, southern and eastern Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, Norway and the North Sea as far south as the English Channel. In the Pacific, it is found from Japan, through the Sea of Okhotsk, across the Bering Strait, and as far south in North America as Washington state. They live at depths of between 10 and 500 m, usually on soft muddy bottoms, in waters between 2°C and 14°C. In their 3–4 year lifespan, individuals can reach a length of 120 mm, with a carapace 35 mm long.

Shrimp alkaline phosphatase (SAP), an enzyme used in molecular biology, is obtained from Pandalus borealis.