Chapter One

Purpose and Structure

Fishermen from over 100 different countries catch more than 340 differ­ent commercial species of shrimp. Each type of shrimp and each country of origin offer variations in appear­ance, quality, packing and processing, along with many other factors. Count­less distinctions affect the price of shrimp and create a constant stream of challenges for everyone concerned with the shrimp industry. Good infor­mation on all of these features is vital for the successful performance of fish­ermen, processors, exporters, import­ers, traders, brokers, dealers, wholesalers, restaurant operators and retailers. This book provides useful, detailed information on shrimp for commercial users of what is the most valuable seafood commodity·in the world.

An Illustrated Guide to Shrimp of the World is laid out to make it as easy as possible for you to find the informa­tion you need. Most of it is alphabe­tized. All of it is thoroughly and extensively indexed. The following paragraphs describe the contents and structure of each of the chapters.

Chapter Two is a simple guide to help the layman to identify shrimp. It outlines the major identification fea­tures, explains the terms used and dis-

cusses the problems involved in making definitive identifications of the many similar species.

Chapter Three is the Shrimp Ency­clopedia. This gives in alphabetical order a wide assortment of useful and interesting information for shrimp pro­ducers and users. The topics range from Abdomen to W.H.O. It provides definitions, descriptions and com­ments. It will answer most of your questions about shrimp, or at least indicate where you can find solutions.

Chapter Four is the Illustrated Guide and contains color pictures, drawings and maps relating to seventy species of shrimp and one species of krilL The color pictures represent so far as possible the way the live shrimp looks. Because different individuals vary enormously, there is no such thing as a universally "correct" color rendering. Shrimp are generally trans­lucent when alive, making colors par­ticularly hard to describe and define.

The identification drawing shows some major features which will help in deciding which species you might have. This will not allow you to become an instant shrimp taxonomist: such skills are acquired only after years of training and experience. N ei­ther is this material intended for scien-

11 I. Dore et al., An Illustrated Guide to Shrimp of the World© Ian Dore and Claus Frimodt 1987

ti:fic use. Proper scienti:fic identi:fication requires use of system­atic taxonomy and much more detailed descriptions. This book is for industry use.

The maps show the areas where each species is found. Adjacent text lists the geographical areas, as well as the type of marine environment favored.

For each shrimp, we give the scien­ti:fic name in Latin, the family name and the three vernacular F.AO. names in English, French and Spanish. (F.A.o. is the Food and Agriculture Organiza­tion of the United Nations. For a full explanation of F.AO. names for shrimp, see Chapter Three under F.AO. N ames.) The common and commercial names used for the species are also given. There are sections on the size and habitat of the species, and com­ments on commercial aspects such as the shrimp's color, meat quality, impor­tance as a resource and any other information which might be useful for shrimp processing and trading activities.

Chapter Five outlines some basic quality standards for shrimp process­ing. These are mainly common-sense rules which, if followed, should permit the production of shrimp which will be acceptable in major world markets.

The Resources section discusses the major source material used for this

12

book under a number of major head­ings. It describes some of these and suggests further materials which will help the reader find more detail and more information.

The Bibliography is a full list of sources used.

There are four indexes, and these are an important and extremely useful part of the book.

The General Index lists all the top­ics and key words that are not covered by either of the indexes of names.

The Index of Scienti:fic Names lists all the Latin names mentioned, with each word in the name listed sepa­rately. Perweus brasiliensis is entered under both Perweus and brasiliensis. This makes it much easier to locate a species where you are not sure of the whole name. Frequently, a supplier will tell you that a shrimp is a P some­thing and the P. could refer to Perweus, Paraperweus, Pandalus, Palaemon or, for all one can tell, Parahaemolyticus. Indexing both words makes it much easier to track down the particular shrimp.

The Index of Common, Commercial and F.AO. Names combines the refer­ences to all the vernacular names, in all languages, used throughout this book.

The Combined Index contains all the words listed in the other three indexes.