On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 Julian Pool <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Viv wrote: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 5:32 PM
>> Prawn = shrimp
>> Lobster = crayfish
>> Viv
>
>Keeping this on the scuba front......
>I don't think these are interchangeable are they, cos.....:
>
>We don't get Lobsters in this part of the world, but we do get some kind of
>salt water Crayfish (a different creature - it doesn't have the big claw)
>and just call it a Lobster due to our ignorance and jealousy.
>
>Again, shrimp and Prawn are two different creatures are they not - its just
>that people don't know how to tell the difference and think it is all down
>to size (and we know that size isn't everything!).

Wgat's worse, the more I look in to this the more confused I get ;-)
What's in a name eh .. so I had to look up my trusty dictionary :-)

- CRAYFISH from OZ & NZ  are actually small lobster-like freshwater
crustaceans.  Lots of pics of different types of crayfish worldwide on the
2nd link also. One thing is that many of the sea critters on that site are
commonly called marron or yabbies in OZ.   Go figure .. I'm still trying to
get my head around what has 10 legs and comes with/without claws :-)

http://www.mackers.com/crayfish/
My elders back home called these crawfish in the early days.

http://www.crayfishworld.com/pictureindex.htm

- LOBSTER large marine stalk-eyed ten-footed long-tailed edible crustacean
of family Homaridae, with large claws formed by first pair of feet.
But the funny thing is when you get read some of the lobster reference
details on the net you find they also cover the spiny lobster and other
things that don't have large claws.

http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/species.html

For example, what we sell overseas as Western Rock Lobster are commonly
called crays or crayfish in the local markets.  This year our recreational
cray season runs from Nov 15 to June 30.
http://aqwa.com.au/lobster.html

- PRAWNS are marine crustacenas like large shrimp

http://www.foodtv.com/terms/tt-r2/0,4474,3602,00.html

In Western OZ our fisheries target nine commercial species of prawns
including white banana, red-legged banana, brown tiger, grooved tiger, blue
endeavour, and red endeavour.  Scampi, squid, scallops and bugs are also
taken.

Four types of Australian farmed prawns are in demand for the export market:
Kuruma, banana, brown tiger and black tiger prawns. Of these the Kuruma
prawns are the most valuable and are in high demand for the gourmet
Japanese market.

In many of New South Wales estuaries the commonly known species are the
eastern king prawn, the school prawn and the greasyback prawn which are
caught by commercial trawlers offshore. The most commonly cultured prawn is
the black tiger or leader prawn.

- SHRIMP are small aquatic edible decapod crustacean.

I found this in my fish reference book - "The terms "prawn" and "scampi"
are often used interchangeably with shrimp: "prawn" commonly refers to
freshwater shrimp or large saltwater shrimp; "scampi" is often used by
restauranteurs to describe shrimp cooked in butter and garlic. All shrimp
are divided into three basic categories: cold-water or northern; warm-
water, tropical, or southern; and freshwater. You may find all three
categories in your local market."
Viv