Talk:Atlantic white shrimp

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Why is the Atlantic White Shrimp really a prawn? Aren't prawns freshwater and shrimps saltwater? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 60.49.90.189 (talk • contribs) 22:38, 10 August 2005.

Actually, I don't know any freshwater prawns. Did you, by any chance, mean the crayfish? As for shrimps, some do live in salt water. However, I have a freshwater shrimp at home, a notostracan(tadpole shrimp). Crustaceanguy 20:05, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

The terms "shrimp" and "prawn" are often (mis-)applied to different things. Specialists tend to use "shrimp" for Caridea and "prawn" for Dendrobranchiata (which is implied here), but the usage is different in the food industry, different again in the aquarium industry, and probably different again with every person you ask. There are both freshwater and marine Caridea and both freshwater and marine Dendrobranchiata. There are also both freshwater and marine "shrimp" and "prawn" as defined by the food industry. "Tadpole shrimp" and a number of other organisms are only very distantly related to either group. Common names for invertebrates are a veritable minefield, and many statements are only meaningful once a scientific name can be assigned to their subject. Thus, any sentence about "shrimp" or "prawn" is only useful if it's already clear what definition of "shrimp" or "prawn" is being used. Here, the link at prawn ought to clarify which definition is meant, but if the text is not clear as it stands, there must be ways of improving it. --Stemonitis 19:33, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

All right, notostracans are not true shrimps. If you want an example of a freshwater true shrimp, check out the Japanese marsh shrimp. It is classified in the Caridea infraorder.Crustaceanguy 13:49, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Absolutely, and there are countless others. I don't know where the anonymous poster got the idea from that shrimp are marine and prawns freshwater, but it's not a distinction I've come across anywhere. --Stemonitis 23:44, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

I once read a Russian fable called "the fox and the crayfish,"( I'm originally from Russia) but in the book, the crayfish was called a prawn. The picture, however, showed a crayfish. It turns out that the fable, in fact, was translated from Russian to Italian to English. No wonder the translators got all confused! Are crayfishes also confused with prawns? Interesting. Crustaceanguy 01:23, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

In my experience, when using common names (and especially when trying to translate them), everything can be confused with everything. One man's crab is another man's lobster. Or crayfish. Or prawn. Or anything else. Spiny lobsters are not lobsters. Squat lobsters are not lobsters. Mud shrimp, mantis shrimp and tadpole shrimp are not shrimp. Water fleas are not fleas. Fish lice are not lice. The Parktown prawn is not a prawn. Horseshoe crabs are not crustaceans, but the Balmain bug is. (And all of these without the added trial of translation.) There is no end to the confusion wrought by common names. I am convinced that the Cancer of the zodiac is a crayfish, not a crab, so the problem has lasted hundreds of years and isn't likely to end now. --Stemonitis 02:27, 22 January 2007 (UTC)