"The Great Prawn and Shrimp Debate"

long have i pondered, in the quiet of my room on a warm sunday afternoon, in the solitude of a long and lonely bus ride home, in the course of a corporate meeting that has dragged on too long, in the middle of a conversation with someone who clearly prefers monologues, this question: "Prawns and Shrimp: Are they Different? Or Actually The Same?"

i have heard many answers: "Prawns are big shrimps, or shrimps are small prawns". "We call them prawns, they call them shrimps"... etc..

finally, i've found the answer here at this site : "the only biological difference being that prawns have their second abdominal flap (counting from the head towards the tail) overlapping the first and the third.“ see the site again for the pic that shows the subtle difference...

so there IS a difference! there you have it! next time, before you tuck into your dish of drunken prawns/shrimps or cornflake prawns (Lynn's favourite) at that 10-course Chinese dinner, pause a little while, check that belly bit of the crustacean and eat in peace knowing that you KNOW what you are eating...

:p ... sunday morning madness.. sitting in front of the computer with a pile of unfinished assignments and surfing the net for "prawn" ... (aiyoh! not porn! prawn!! durrhh... hahahahaha...)