Whiteleg shrimp: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the whiteleg shrimp lives – recorded in 11 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Litopenaeus vannamei
Group	Crabs, lobsters & shrimps
Found in	11 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America
Class	Crustacean
Order	Decapoda
Family	Penaeidae

Where does the whiteleg shrimp live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the whiteleg shrimp in 11 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. In Brazil, China, United States it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the whiteleg shrimp?

The whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is a crustacean in the order Decapoda and the family Penaeidae, genus Litopenaeus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the whiteleg shrimp

Whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei, synonyms Litopenaeus vannamei, Penaeus vannamei), also known as Pacific white shrimp or King prawn or White shrimp, is a species of prawn of the eastern Pacific Ocean commonly caught or farmed for food.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Whiteleg shrimp (revision 1369125035), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q3002564 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).