The same species is sold as northern shrimp, pink shrimp, deep-sea prawn, coldwater prawn, Nordic shrimp and great northern prawn — and the FAO calls it “northern prawn.” One animal, seven names.
And the popular rule — “prawns are big, shrimp are small” — is simply wrong. Size has nothing to do with it; it’s regional language, not biology. The funny part? Pandalus borealis is, scientifically, a shrimp. So “coldwater prawn” isn’t even accurate.
The label changes at the border. The shrimp doesn’t.
