Where do greasyback shrimp come from? An overview of the main producing areas

Greasyback shrimp, also known as Metapenaeus ensis, is loved by many people in the market and is a common food at banquets and gatherings. But do you know where greasyback shrimp come from? Let's take a look together.

1. Producing areas of greasyback shrimp

The domestic producing areas of greasyback shrimp are mainly south of the Yangtze River, with relatively large output in Guangdong and Fujian, and they are also distributed in the coastal waters south of the Shandong Peninsula. They are also distributed along the east coast of Japan, and in the areas of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

2. Living habits

A shrimp species with wide temperature and wide salinity tolerance. It widely inhabits sea areas with sandy bottoms, sandy-mud bottoms and muddy bottoms, and is distributed within the depth range of 50 m along the coast, with larger numbers within 10 m. Greasyback shrimp have a very wide adaptability to water temperature, and are distributed in sea areas at 8-29 degrees, with an aquaculture water temperature of 18-25 degrees being suitable. Greasyback shrimp are a euryhaline species, and the salinity range can be between 0‰-34‰. Their feeding habits are very omnivorous, mainly preying on benthic organisms, and also feeding on bottom plankton and nekton.

3. Economic value

Greasyback shrimp and Metapenaeus affinis are both small and medium-sized penaeid shrimp among commercial shrimp species. The body length of greasyback shrimp is generally 7.5-16 cm, and the body length of Metapenaeus affinis is 8-15 cm. The body weight of both shrimp species is 4-50 g. The estuarine sea areas along the coast of Guangdong have relatively high yields, and the shrimp are plump with thin shells, making these two species of the genus Metapenaeus relatively high in economic value. At present, aquaculture has begun in Guangdong. In Hong Kong, China, they can be marketed after about two months of farming. The catch has a high survival rate and is relatively tolerant of dry transport, making it an important species for exporting live shrimp to Hong Kong, China and Macao, China by fishermen in the Pearl River Estuary area. Their nutritional value is similar to that of other shrimp species.

Greasyback shrimp are very common in the market and have relatively high economic value. If you are interested, you can learn about the aquaculture techniques for greasyback shrimp.