A very large group of shrimp within the complete shrimp group can be described with Penaeidae, a suborder that is composed of five families. Two of the families are, for example, Solenoceridae and Penaeidae (now with 'ae' at the end) which, in turn, are composed of many genera. Each genus again has many species.
This shrimp type is fished and traded globally from warm waters. When traded unpeeled, the species is still known and commercially important. Species such as the Litopenaeus vannamei (commonly known as western white shrimp or Pacific white shrimp) are, under these circumstances, sold under their own name. Many of these tropical shrimp are, however, peeled raw and, subsequently, cooked. They can virtually not be distinguished from each other in relation to species and the specific shrimp species is, in fact, no longer important in relation to this product. In many cases, the products consist of combinations made up of multiple batches and, therefore, it is possible that multiple species are in involved in one product which constantly changes in subsequent productions. The shrimp type is often referred to with the term Penaeidea in such cases in these types of products thus specifying the taxonomic unit that is applicable to all shrimp that could have been used for such products.
