Parts of Shrimps

Legs

• Decapod means ten-legged; a shrimp has five pairs of walking legs. The first pair of a shrimp's legs have claws; these are called pereiopods.

Abdominal Plating

• The shrimp's abdomen is a series of overlapping, plated segments. The first five segments of a shrimp have pairs of leg-like appendages called pleopods or swimmerets; these are used for swimming.

Abdominal Sections

• Plates one through three are collectively referred to as the tergum. Plates four, five and six are collectively known as the pleuron. The entire abdomen of the shrimp is called the pleon.

Tail

• The tail of a shrimp is used to steer the animal while it swims. The tail has three fanning parts. A central, pointed section is known as the telson, while the other two parts are uropods.

Head and Thorax

• The head and thorax of the shrimp is covered by a hard covering called a carapace. This front portion of the the shrimp is called the cephalothrorax.

Head

• A shrimp has eye stalks and a rostrum for a nose. It has mandibles for jaws with appendages called maxillipeds that shred food and help get it inside the mandibles. Long antennae and short antennules are sensory aids.