A more fundamental difference but one impossible to appreciate in a single specimen is that female prawns do not brood eggs but shed them into the currents where they develop independently. King prawns and banana prawns are names understood in this continent for penaeids sold frozen at the markets. The tiny shrimps bought in cans or froz en are imported carideans. Distribution There are more than 30 families of shrimps and 1000s of species worldwide. Most are marine, occuring close to the bottom or swimming in midwater with plankton.
Some species live in estuaries, rivers and lakes but none in terrestrial en vironments.
In southern Australia more than 130 species have been recorded.