Penaeus vannamei is a shrimp species that naturally inhabits the eastern Pacific coast, including Mexico, Parita Gulf, Panama, and Peru. It is commonly cultured in brackish water or under low salinity conditions, being considered a promising species that has been introduced to many countries outside its native range, to western Atlantic coast and Asia, including China and Thailand. Aquaculture of this species has rapidly expanded worldwide since the early 2000s, with Southeast Asia as an important producer region. Penaeus vannamei has some advantages for aquaculture, like its fast and good growth, a great tolerance to a wide range of water parameters and high stocking densities, high disease resistance, low protein requirements, and high survival rates. As a consequence, many countries are moving from Penaeus monodon to Penaeus vannamei as the main species in shrimp farming. Despite that, unnatural stocking densities, shallow tanks, absence of substrate in culture tanks, and the highly invasive practice of eyestalk ablation are major problems that hinder this species’ welfare in aquaculture. Additionally, some important aspects of its natural behaviours and needs are still missing. Providing soft substrate that allows the expression of natural behaviours such as burrowing and grazing, as well as reducing stocking densities are simple measures that should help improve both performance and welfare. Eyestalk ablation has been shown to be unnecessary to induce spawning and therefore should not be implemented.
Note: due to reaching maturity after the typical age and weight at slaughter, there is no age class "ADULTS" in the profile.
