The life cycles of brown shrimp and white shrimp include Gulf and bay phases. Both species spawn in the Gulf of Mexico. Generally, brown shrimp spawn during fall through spring in depths greater than 60 feet, whereas, white shrimp spawn during late spring through summer in depths less than 60 feet.
Young shrimp go through several larval stages as they are carried shoreward by currents.
There they grow, obtain color and become bottom dwellers. If conditions in nursery areas are favorable, young shrimp grow rapidly and soon move to deeper water of major bays. There is a major influx of brown shrimp that enters the bays in early spring and begins gulfward migration in May or June. Postlarval white shrimp begin entering the bays about the time juvenile brown shrimp are leaving. White shrimp generally remain in bays longer and grow larger than brown shrimp before they begin emigrating to the shallow Gulf in fall following the first cold fronts.