Shrimp

Americans eat more shrimp per capita than any other nation. Canned tuna used to reign as America’s favorite food from the sea, but it looks now like shrimp is the biggie. Shrimp belong to the crustacean family along with crab, lobster, crayfish, langoustine, and the like. There are hundreds of species of shrimp around the world. They range from tiny to “gigantic” in size, and their shells come in many colors, from the familiar gray, pink, and white to red, yellow, green, and blue—there are even some with multicolored stripes. Those hundreds of species can be divided into two categories: warm-water species and cold-water. Most of what we consume (80 percent or so) comes from warm waters in the tropics and subtropics. In American markets, basically five types are sold widely: