CreatureData

Whiteleg shrimp

Penaeus vannamei Boone, 1931

Status not recordedcrustaceans

The whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) is a species in the family Penaeidae, order Decapoda.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the whiteleg shrimp

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the whiteleg shrimp live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the whiteleg shrimp as introduced in 17 countries, and flagged as invasive in 2 of them.

  1. Philippinesinvasive
  2. Venezuelainvasive
  3. Bahamas
  4. Brazil
  5. Cambodia
  6. Chile
  7. China
  8. Egypt
  9. Fiji
  10. Guinea
  11. Indonesia
  12. Jamaica
  13. Malaysia
  14. Myanmar (Burma)
  15. St. Kitts & Nevis
  16. Thailand
  17. Vietnam

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the whiteleg shrimp endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the whiteleg shrimp classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classMalacostraca
  4. orderDecapoda
  5. familyPenaeidae
  6. genusPenaeus
  7. SpeciesPenaeus vannamei Boone, 1931

Synonyms Litopenaeus vannamei, Penaeus vannamei

Other names and names in other languages (7)
  • Central American shrimpEnglish
  • Pacific white shrimpEnglish
  • Weißfuß-GarneleGerman
  • crevette pattes blanchesFrench
  • witpootgarnaalDutch
  • Pazifische Weiße GarneleGerman
  • Weißbein-GarneleGerman

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the whiteleg shrimp

Other species in the same genus Penaeus.

Zebra prawn

Penaeus semisulcatus

PenaeidaeNo free photo yet

Blue shrimp

Penaeus stylirostris

PenaeidaeNo free photo yet

CompareWhiteleg shrimp vs Black tiger shrimpWhiteleg shrimp vs Zebra prawnWhiteleg shrimp vs Brown tiger prawnWhiteleg shrimp vs Fleshy prawn

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the whiteleg shrimp an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the whiteleg shrimp as invasive in 2 countries: Philippines and Venezuela. It lists it as introduced in 17 in all.

What kind of animal is the whiteleg shrimp?

The whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) belongs to the family Penaeidae in the order Decapoda.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiteleg-shrimp

MLA

“Whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiteleg-shrimp.

BibTeX
@misc{whiteleg_shrimp_2026,
  title = {Whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiteleg-shrimp},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}