How Many Species of Shrimp Are There?

Here at Wild American Shrimp, we can’t get enough of, you guessed it, shrimp!

We love shrimp of all shapes and sizes and prepared in every type of dish — Grilled Shrimp, Shrimp Pasta, Shrimp Salad and more — but thinking about all of this made us wonder: how many species of shrimp are out there in the world?

There are of course the big five that are the most popularly consumed — pink, white, brown, brown rock and royal red shrimp — each with their own deliciously distinct flavors. But what about all the other species of shrimp?

After all, new discoveries are always being made in animal research, and to this day 91% of animal species in the ocean have yet to be classified.

The answer may surprise you: there are approximately 2,000 shrimp species in the world!

Now that’s a lot of shrimp! For comparison, there are currently only 340 breeds of dog recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI, or the World Canine Organization), the world’s governing body of dog breeds. Even then, the current number of shrimp species only accounts for all of the species we currently know about. Who knows how many more types of shrimp are out there in the ocean?

What’s even more amazing is how different all of these shrimp are!

There are freshwater shrimp of all the colors of the rainbow that are kept as pets!

There are ghost shrimp deep in the ocean that are completely transparent!

And there are mantis shrimp that are noteworthy for their gorgeous colors and powerful pincers!

While all of these types of shrimp are interesting to look at, our favorites will always be the ones caught by our amazing shrimpers and shrimp processors because they’re the tastiest to eat!

Want to make tasty Wild American Shrimp recipes? Visit our Recipes page! Want to order wild-caught U.S. shrimp for yourself or your business to be shipped anywhere in the country from our member-processors? Click HERE!