The crustaceans that Australians call prawns belong to one decapod family, Penaeidae. Adults grow to about 200 mm long. Most penaeids sold in Australian fish shops are caught by trawlers in the tropics, in places like the Gulf of Carpentaria. Small fisheries for prawns exist in estuaries farther south. In Asia prawns are raised in coastal farms.
Penaeids live close to the seafloor in shallow water, burrowing in the mud during the day and moving only at night, when they can be caught by trawl nets. Prawns reproduce by dispersing their eggs freely into the water, where the young prawns hatch and swim into estuaries to grow up.
There are about 70 species of prawns in Australia, but only 10 are of economic significance: banana prawn, Endeavour prawn, tiger prawn, king prawn, red-spot prawn and school prawn are some of the names used for different species or groups of species.