10 May: National Shrimp Day

Today is National Shrimp Day. Here are ten things you might not know about shrimps.

1. Shrimp or prawn? In the UK, a common starter dish is "prawn cocktail". In the USA the same dish is usually called "shrimp cocktail". Are they, in fact, the same thing? According to the Oxford English Dictionary a shrimp is "a small free-swimming crustacean with an elongated body, typically marine and frequently of commercial importance as food" and a prawn is "a marine crustacean which resembles a large shrimp". So it may be down to the size of the creature, but the two words are often used virtually interchangeably. A marine biologist is unlikely to refer to the creatures by either name when studying them in the wild. There are over 2,000 species of shrimp, so they tend to use the biological names, such as Caridea and Dendrobranchiata.
2. Shrimp are found all over the world in a variety of habitats. Some are quite specialised, like the coral shrimp in the Indo-Pacific. As their name suggests, they live in Coral reefs, eating the mucus coral produces while protecting the coral from predators. Other species eat the bloodsucking parasites that live in the mouths of bigger fish. These shrimp will do a dance, waving their antenna to attract the fish, which allow them inside their mouths safely to remove the parasites.
3. It is hard to pinpoint exactly how long humans have been eating shrimp, because the chitinous shells of shrimp degrade rapidly, leaving no fossil remains. However, archaeologists studying ancient cultures in Mexico have speculated that raised paved areas near the coast in Chiapas were used to dry shrimp in the sun. They further speculate that nearby clay hearths were built for drying shrimp when it wasn't sunny.
4. The ancient Romans probably ate them, as clay vessels with shrimp decorations have been found in the ruins of Pompeii. In 3rd century Greece, the author Athenaeus wrote "... of all fish the daintiest is a young shrimp in fig leaves."
5. A couple of sources I found suggested that shrimp can only swim backwards, but most say that they do swim forwards using swimmerets on the underside of their abdomens. They can, however, swim backwards much more quickly by flexing the muscles of their abdomen and tail, which they use as an escape response.
6. A shrimp's body has two main parts - the cephalothorax (the head and thorax fused together) and the abdomen. It's outer shell is called the carapace. The part of the carapace which extends over the head to form a kind of beak is called the rostrum (Latin for beak). The rostrum is used for attack or defence.
7. They have a lot of legs. Typically eight pairs of them. The first three pairs of legs are actually part of their mouths and mostly used to gather food into the shrimp's mouth. These are called maxillipeds, Latin for "jaw feet". The other five are actual legs, used for perching rather than walking. They also have two pairs of antennae on their heads, one short, one long for feeling and also tasting their environment. They have compound eyes on stalks which have panoramic vision and are good at detecting movement.
8. There is a species of shrimp, the pistol shrimp, which can snap its claws extremely loudly - louder than a gunshot or jet engine and loud enough to rupture a human ear drum. The force of the snap can deliver an explosive attack hotter than the surface of the Sun and is used to stun prey. Humans have made use of this. Navy Submarines sometimes hide in beds of snapping shrimp to disguise their location from sonar detection.
9. Female shrimp can lay up to a million eggs at once and some species can store sperm from multiple fathers.
10. It's probably a good job they are so fertile because shrimp are prey to so many other animals - they are eaten by fish, Crabs, sea urchins, starfish, seabirds, Whales, Dolphins, Sharks and of course, humans. One billion pounds of shrimp are eaten every year by Americans alone. Shrimp is high in calcium, iodine and protein but low in energy. Shrimp is also a significant source of cholesterol depending on how it is cooked. On the other hand, they also contain selenium, an antioxidant mineral which can help prevent cancer.

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

Amazon (Paperback)

Amazon Kindle

Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two