Description

Crangon Crangon!

No, not a reference to a fictitious creature from Star Wars, but the scientific name for what we call the brown shrimp. We couldn’t quite imagine a world of ordering food by it’s scientific name… “excuse me, may we have some crangon crangon on toast”, but you never know!

This little crustacean, measuring only 5-6cm can be found in the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and also throughout the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. They are also very common around the UK and Irish coastlines.

Brown, Brown Shrimp

Unsurprisingly, the brown shrimp is usually a brownish to red in colour. Interestingly, though, this is not always the case. They have the ability to engage stealth mode and switch to camouflage colours to protect themselves from predators. In addition, they live in sandy and muddy ground, burying themselves under the sediment to stave off predators. The clever little crangons!

They feed on dead marine creatures, organic matter, algae, fish eggs and plant matter. They are often found in high numbers in tidal areas but they can also be found at depths of 100 metres. Unfortunately for them, they are also an important part of the food chain as they turn from hunter to hunted for a wide range of fish species and marine birds.