Brown Shrimp, Penaeus (Farfantepenaeus) californiensis

Brown Shrimp, Penaeus (Farfantepenaeus) californiensis. Shrimp caught from within the estuary of Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, January 2018. Catch and photograph courtesy of Brad Murakami, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

Phylogeny:  The Brown Shrimp, Penaeus (Farfantepenaeus) californiensis, Holmes, 1900, is a member of the Penaeidae Family of Shrimp. There are eleven subgenera in the Penaeus Genus. The subgenus Penaeus (Farfantepenaeus) contains nine species. This species is also known as the Yellowleg Shrimp and in Mexico as Camarón Café and Camarón Patiamarillo.

Morphology:  The Brown Shrimp are light brown to reddish brown in color with yellowish legs. They have a pronounced grove along both sides of the rostrum. Brown Shrimp have well-developed, toothed, rostrums which extend to or past the eye stalks. The first 3 pairs of legs are clawed and all 5 pairs of legs are well developed. They are sexually dimorphic with females being larger than males – a maximum of 25.0 cm (9.8 inches) in length versus 16.0 cm (6.3 inches).

Habitat and Distribution:  The Brown Shrimp are benthic and are found in brackish waters on mud and sand substrates. They live from the intertidal zone to depths up to 180 m (590 feet), with the majority being found between 25 m (82 feet) and 50 m (164 feet). Brown Shrimp are a subtropical to tropical Eastern Pacific species  that are found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Diet:  Brown Shrimp are either omnivores that feed on algae, crustaceans, detritus, plankton,  and worms or are herbivores that feed only on algae and detritus. Juveniles feed on the green macroalgae, Ulva clatharata.

Predators: Brown Shrimp are preyed upon by by crabs, fish, mantis shrimp, octopus, and squid.

Reproduction: Brown Shrimp are gonochoric (male or female for life) and reproduce sexually with indirect sperm transfer. The male transfers a sperm packet (spermatophore) to the female’s abdomen. As the female releases her eggs they pass the spermatophore and are fertilized. The eggs hatch into planktonic larvae. Reproduction occurs in coastal zones and sometimes coastal lagoons. They may migrate between habitats during their short life spans of one to two years.

Ecosystem Interactions: Brown Shrimp are known to host viral, helminth, and protozoan parasites. Other involvement in other commensal, mutualistic relationships and parasitic relationships has not been formally documented.

Human Interactions: Brown Shrimp are caught in abundance by trawlers along the continental shelf and are the most important commercially harvested shrimp from the Sea of Cortez. They  are considered to be an exceptional shrimp for human consumption. Along with the Blue Shrimp and the White Shrimp they are marketed as “Mexican White Shrimp”. When available they are often used by recreational anglers as an exceptional live bait, targeting a wide variety of fish.  Efforts to propagate this species via aquaculture are on-going but to date have had only mixed results. From a conservation perspective they have not been formally evaluated however they are fairly common with a relatively wide distribution and should be consider to be of Least Concern.

Synonyms:  Farfantepenaeus californiensis and Penaeus californiensis.