2 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
PRODUCTION AND VALUE OF SHRIMP 
The shrimp fishery of the United States produced a total of 113,263,000 pounds in 
1929 and 92,327,000 pounds in 1930, ranking in each year ninth in volume among all 
the fisheries. The value to the fishermen of the shrimp taken in 1929 was $4,575,000; 
this placed the fishery fifth in value. It was exceeded only by the salmon, oyster, 
haddock, and halibut. In 1930, due to a decline in price and in catch, the value 
was $3,134,000, so that it fell to tenth rank. 
As may be seen from table 1, more than 95 percent of the shrimp taken were 
from the South Atlantic and Gulf States, slightly over 40 percent coming from 
Louisiana alone. Here occur the following species: Penaeus setiferus, Penaeus 
brasiliensis , Macrobrachium sp., Xiphopenaeus kroyeri, Trachypenaeus constridus 
Figure 1 . — Side view of the common shrimp ( Penaeus setiferus) with some of the more conspicuous structures labeled; a, antennule; 
b, rostrum or “spine”; c, eye; d, cephalothorax or “head”; e, carapace or “head shell”;/, abdomen or “tail”; g, telson or “tail 
spine”; h, uropod or “tail fin”; i, first pleopod or “swimming leg”;/, fifth pereiopod or “walking leg”; k, chela or “pincer” 
of third periopod; l, third maxilliped; m, antenna or “whisker”; n, antennal scale or acicle. 
and Sicyonia sp. They may be distinguished as follows: Macrobrachium is easily 
recognized from its presence in fresh or slightly brackish water. Only the first two 
pair of walking legs have pincers, the first being relatively very large. It supports 
a distinct river fishery of small volume not here considered. All of the other species 
belong to the Penaeidae and agree in having the first three pairs of walking legs, 
instead of only two, armed with pincers, a family character. These shrimp are 
characteristically salt-water forms, although they may be found in brackish bays at 
certain times of year. The two species of Penaeus may be told from Trachypenaeus 
and Xiphopenaeus by the fact that the rostrum is armed with spines both above and 
below. P. setiferus differs but little from P. brasiliensis. The most easily recognized 
distinguishing characteristic is to be found in the groove on either side of the rostrum. 
In P. setiferus these grooves, conspicuous along the side of the rostrum, become 
shallow as they reach the carapace and are soon lost. In P. brasiliensis, however, 
the grooves continue to the back margin of the carapace. (See figs. 3 and 4.) 
