Malacostracans · Decapoda · Aristeidae

Scarlet Gamba Prawn

Aristaeopsis edwardsiana

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

The scarlet gamba prawn — known in Spanish as carabinero or gamba carabinero — is a decapod crustacean of the family Aristeidae. It resembles the prawns and shrimps, although it is considerably larger. Of a strong dark red colour, it has a tall, laterally flattened body and an equally elongated head. It can reach 30 cm in size.

Size

20 cm – 33 cm

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

OceanCarnivore Colonial Ocean Crustacean

21countries 35parks

Fun facts

GeneralOne of the most expensive crustaceans on the market; its deep red is natural.
Its intense red, so striking at the surface, is perfect camouflage hundreds of metres down: red light does not reach there, so the animal looks black.
The females grow far larger than the males, so the biggest and most expensive specimens are almost always female.
The Spanish name carabinero comes from its colour: a deep scarlet that recalled the red uniform of the Spanish carabineers.
The size difference between the sexes is large: females reach 33.4 cm and males do not exceed 19.3.
It was described in 1868 from specimens caught off Madeira.
It is the target of deep trawl fisheries in several parts of the Atlantic. In Brazil, where the fleet moved onto the slope in 2002, it came to account for 88 % of total shrimp production from those fisheries, concentrated between 700 and 750 m.