Far Eastern chilim - northern shrimp. Shrimp: description and photo of the animal What do shrimp eat

Shrimp - a familiar stranger
How many types of shrimp do we know? We know shrimp, which can be bought in supermarkets in Moscow and other cities and towns of the country.
In fact, there are more than a hundred types of edible shrimp, from which a variety of dishes are prepared.
The largest shrimp is the tiger shrimp - it can reach 30 cm! The weight of the largest tiger shrimp is half a kilo! Imagine - you ordered a portion of shrimp in a restaurant, and they brought you a dish on which one SHRIMP flaunts :-). Yes, what! Such a huge and delicious shrimp!
But still the most delicious and healthy our Far Eastern shrimp is considered to be the northern shrimp, which the locals call chilim. Free northern shrimp feed on algae and crustaceans, and not on special food, they themselves get their own food, being in constant motion. Therefore, northern shrimp are more healthy and have better taste, unlike farm-raised shrimp.

A bit of biology
northern shrimps- saline crustaceans from the decapod order. In shrimp, like in most animals, there is a division by gender - there are male and female individuals. However, our northern chilim is special - at first he participates in the breeding process as a male, and then the northern chilim turns into a female and for the rest of his life, as befits a real mother shrimp, diligently lays eggs, from which then a huge number of small northern shrimp hatch.

Shrimps in cooking
In Moscow, you can buy frozen and boiled-frozen shrimp. They must be uniform in color. You should not buy northern shrimp if the shrimp has a dried shell, there are bumps, yellow, dark spots or rings on the legs. All these are signs of a poor-quality product that is far from the first freshness. If the northern shrimps are frozen, then their shells will have white spots, as if the shrimps were too dry.
Do not defrost boiled-frozen shrimp under hot water or in the microwave. In order not to lose its taste and useful properties, you need to defrost it slowly, first moving it from the freezer to the refrigerator, and then at room temperature.

Amazing Shrimp Facts
Eggs (caviar) sea ​​shrimp can be stored for many years in dried form. But when they fall into the water, the eggs “come to life”, and after a few hours, baby shrimp are born from them.
In Japan there is an interesting custom - As a sign of love and fidelity, newlyweds are given a glass sponge (a marine multicellular animal called the basket of Venus), inside which a real couple of spongicola shrimp live. The fact is that this pair of shrimp climbs into the sponge while still in the state of larvae. Shrimp settle down in their house, and having matured and increased in size, they can no longer leave this house, because. the holes through which they once penetrated into the basket of Venus are too small. This is how the life of this married couple of shrimp goes - always nearby, in common worries and troubles, they raise children together, they grow old in a place.
There are shrimp that can shoot . On the claws of these shrimp, there are special devices with which the shrimp are able to hunt with the help of sound - they click so loudly that the sound power reaches 218 decibels. This sound kills all small fish swimming past the shooting shrimp.
The shrimp are shedding!
And they do it periodically. Similar to snakes shedding their old skin, shrimp, as they grow up, shed the shell from which they have already grown, and remain in a new, more suitable shell. Heat-loving shrimp molt more often than northern shrimp.

Northern shrimp, northern chilim - Pandalus borealis - distributed in the north of the Russian Far East, enters the Sea of ​​Japan and Peter the Great Bay. Interestingly, this species has a so-called. amphiboreal range, in addition to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, it also lives in the North Atlantic. Such an area arose as a result of the rupture of the original continuous area of ​​warm pre-glacial time by the modern ice regime, which was established in the Arctic basin during the last glaciation. Inhabits depths up to 500 m. Proterandry takes place in the life cycle; at the age of 2.5–3 years, males turn into females. Valuable commercial species.

Northern shrimps are salt-water crustaceans from the decapod order. In shrimp, like in most animals, there is a division by gender - there are male and female individuals. However, our northern chilim is special - at first he participates in the breeding process as a male, and then the northern chilim turns into a female and for the rest of his life, as befits a real mother shrimp, diligently lays eggs, from which then a huge number of small northern shrimp hatch.

Shrimps in cooking
In Moscow, you can buy frozen and boiled-frozen shrimp. They must be uniform in color. You should not buy northern shrimp if the shrimp has a dried shell, there are bumps, yellow, dark spots or rings on the legs. All these are signs of a poor-quality product that is far from the first freshness. If the northern shrimps are frozen, then their shells will have white spots, as if the shrimps were too dry.
Do not defrost boiled-frozen shrimp under hot water or in the microwave. So that the northern chilim does not lose its taste and beneficial properties, it must be thawed slowly, first moving from the freezer to the refrigerator, and then at room temperature.

Northern shrimp - no contraindications

We will not talk much about the benefits of shrimp, we will only touch on the most important points.
Everyone knows that shrimp is a low-calorie dietary product, which contains a lot of protein, iodine, calcium, mineral salts, zinc, potassium, protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Thanks to this, shrimp are useful for both adults and children, and healthy and sick people, with the exception of those who are allergic to shrimp meat. Shrimps are especially recommended for asthmatics, cancer patients and people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and pneumonia.
The devil (cholesterol) is not so terrible as he is painted
Shrimps do contain more cholesterol than other seafood, but much less than liver, eggs, chum and the well-known fish oil. Moreover, scientists from the Rockefeller University have proven the benefits of shrimp in the fight against cholesterol. In 1996, they conducted a study and found out how cholesterol behaves when eating shrimp every day.
In the course of the research, scientists measured not only total cholesterol levels, but also the amount and ratio of LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol). It was noted that "bad" cholesterol became higher by 7%, and "good" - by 12%. Accordingly, the ratio of "bad / good" cholesterol (atherogenicity index) has become lower, and the risk of atherosclerosis has decreased.
In addition, statistics show that in countries where shrimp is a traditional food, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is much lower than in European countries.
So - eat shrimp for health!

Commercial shrimp or chilim or shrimp, unlike their counterparts - other decapod crayfish, have adapted to life in the water column. This affected the structure of the shrimp.

The shrimp has an elongated body, while it is flattened laterally. The body is divided into 2 main sections - the abdomen and the cephalothorax, which is almost half the length of the body.

At the beginning of the cephalothoracic shell there is a pair of compound eyes located in special recesses.

Each eye is formed from a large number of facets, while their number increases with age. Facets separate pigment spots from each other. Each facet perceives only those rays that fall perpendicular to the cornea. Some facets see only a small part of the object that the shrimp is looking at, while other parts see other facets. That is, shrimp have mosaic vision. At night, the pigments diverge to the bases of the eyes, due to which oblique rays reach the retina, and the shrimp begins to see objects completely, but they are blurry.

The cephalothorax is protected by a strong chitinous shell, which is formed from two plates and attached to the gills. The lower part of the chitinous shell is soft and thin.

Shrimps have 19 pairs of limbs, and they are all responsible for certain actions. The antennae are used as organs of touch, with the help of the mandibles, the shrimp crushes the prey, and it holds it with its jaws. Thin long legs, at the end of which small claws are located, play a special role - with the help of them, shrimp clean their body, they also introduce these legs into the cavity of toads and clean them if they are clogged. The remaining legs are used for movement on the ground, they are longer and thicker in size than the rest of the legs. The limbs of the abdomen are used during swimming.

It is interesting to follow the behavior of shrimp while snorkeling in the warm waters of the Sea of ​​Japan. If you move the lush algae, then the shrimps begin to jump out of them, like grasshoppers in a meadow.

It has a wide and strong tail fin. Shrims sharply bends it and moves in jerks. When the shrimp stops, it spreads its small oar legs under its tail and begins to quickly sort through them, swimming among the algae. At the same time, the pectoral legs and antennae are pressed to the body. When the shrimp sits on the algae and freezes, it leads along the sides with long antennae.

Chilims have orange legs. The eyes are purple. When the sun's rays pass through the body of a shrimp, it shines through and gives off an emerald tint. The length of the chilim reaches 18 centimeters. Along the body are dark stripes that serve to camouflage the shrimp among marine plants. Only when you get close you can see the shrimp.

If you lure a shrimp with a piece of meat or fish, then they gather in small groups near the prey. At the slightest movement, they jump off to the sides with jumps, while swimming backwards, sharply bending the abdomen and pushing off the water with their caudal fin and ventral legs.

What do shrimp eat?

The diet of shrimp consists not only of animal food (plankton), but also of algae and soil. A large number of shrimp accumulate near fishing nets, while they eat the fish so quickly that if the fishermen do not get the net in time, they will be left with only naked skeletons.

They find food using the organs of touch and smell. If the shrimp loses its eyes, then it can find prey in 4-5 minutes, and if the first pair of antennae is lost, this time increases to 20 minutes, if both pairs of antennae are lost, the shrimp search for prey even longer, while they use the toes of walking legs and bristles of the oral appendages, characterized by high sensitivity.

Far Eastern shrimps

Shrimps are bisexual organisms, but the female and male gonads are formed in them at different times. When puberty occurs, the shrimp first turns into a male, and in the third year of life, it transforms into a female. Females glue the eggs to the hairs of the ventral legs and carry them with them until the larvae emerge from them.

Palemon shrimp

Shrimps are an object of fishing in the seas of the Pacific Ocean, in the Atlantic and northern seas. These are the most sought-after commercial creatures; up to a million tons of shrimp are caught annually.

Chilim shrimp is a commercial species of crustaceans and is harvested in the Far East. Its meat is a very useful dietary product.

Biological description

Chilim shrimp (lat. Pandalus latirostris Rathbun) is a representative of the Pandalidae family, belongs to the order of decapod crayfish, lives in the coastal sea waters of the Far East region. This species has a great taste, the length of an adult can reach up to 16 cm in length with a weight of 23 g. The average size is 10-14 cm with a weight of 16 g. The life cycle of a shrimp lasts up to 6 years.

Chilim family - well-swimming crustaceans that live in thickets of marine plants and algae, among sponges and hydroids. They are divided into 2 types:

• Herbal- larger individuals, sometimes growing to 18 cm, they have a greenish color with longitudinal transverse stripes, which helps to hide among the algae, as seen in the photo of the chilim shrimp. The depth of habitation is up to 30 m. The stalked eyes can hide in the eye sockets in case of any danger. They feed on young growths of algae and small mollusks, as well as crustaceans.

• northern chilim has a bright pink color and lives in the north of the Far East and in the North Atlantic, which scientists attribute to a break in the pre-glacial range compared to the modern one. The depth of habitat can reach up to 500 m, it belongs to valuable commercial species.

The main diet of chilim is algae and small crustaceans, which shrimp get themselves, constantly moving in sea water. The larvae are very small, feed on plankton, gradually gaining mass and going through several stages of molting until they become adults.

The period of mass emergence of larvae falls on mid-May, then in June the females begin to lay new eggs, from which many small chilims subsequently hatch. The most favorable living conditions are at a negative temperature of about -0.5 ºС.

Northern and herbaceous species, although they occupy a single ecological niche, differ in habitat conditions, duration and intensity of larval maturation, and spawning period.

The chilim shrimp has an original feature, expressed in the ability to hermaphroditism: at first it is a male, and upon reaching the age of 2 years it turns into a female, which actively lays eggs for the rest of its life.

Another feature of shrimp is periodic molting, during which they shed the old smaller shell and remain in a new, larger one. Northern species of shrimp do this less often than the inhabitants of the southern seas.

Habitat and prey areas

The distribution area of ​​​​the northern chilim is Peter the Great Bay, the southwestern part of Sakhalin Island, the bays of Patience, Aniva, In the south it is found up to the Japanese islands (Nagasaki and Chemulpo). Herbal chilim - the most popular commercial species of shrimp, is now under state protection.

Chilim lives in the northwestern part of the Bering Sea, here, during fishing, 1 ton of shrimp can be caught in 30 minutes. Due to fluctuations in temperature in different years, shrimp in the spring months do not go to but begin spawning near Cape Navarin in the southern region of the bay.

Fishing for chillim shrimp is carried out only during the period when spawning has ended and the young generation has grown up. According to the laws of the Russian Federation, amateur fishing for shrimp is prohibited in territorial waters from May 20 to August 1, when spawning and development of larvae take place.

Shrimp fishing

Recreational fishermen most often catch shrimp by "silent" hunting using homemade or ready-made traps. A massive influx of chilim occurs at certain periods: in spring in May and in autumn in September-October. Later, shrimp often go deeper.

Chilim shrimp traps consist of a rigid frame, on which a mesh is stretched, which has several inlets. The bottom is weighted with a load, and a plastic bottle is tied on top, which holds the entire structure in the required vertical position. The device is placed in shallow water, a float is tied to indicate the place, clearly visible from afar.

Rotten or spoiled fish, the smell of which is very fond of chilims, is ideal as bait. However, because of this, then all hands will stink of rotten meat.

The best time to set the traps is in the evening, because it is at night that chilims come out to feed and by smell they will easily fall into traps. In the early morning, at dawn, the shrimp crop must be harvested before they run away.

Some hobbyists catch shrimp with long-handled nets, but this method can only catch dinner for their table.

Relocation experiments

In the 1960s, experimental studies were carried out with the aim of resettling the chilim shrimp in the Black Sea, during which its sensitivity to salinity, temperature characteristics and oxygen content in sea water was carefully studied. The juveniles were obtained quite successfully, but at the stage of larvae, almost all the shrimp died.

Then, in the late 70s, attempts were made to grow juveniles in artificial conditions, but the experiments were suspended. Although in the world aquaculture, the cultivation of many species of freshwater and marine shrimp has long been put on an industrial basis and in large volumes.

Now the catching of chilim is carried out by specialized farms and companies that, using developed technologies, freeze and deliver shrimp meat to consumers while preserving all the useful components of this product.

Application in cooking

Chilim shrimp is a low-calorie seafood that is often used in dietary nutrition. Like all Far Eastern species, it is considered the most delicious and healthy. Its meat contains a large amount of useful vitamins and microelements: iodine, protein, mineral salts, potassium, calcium, zinc, protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids.

It is due to such components that shrimp are useful and should be included in the diet of any person. Such a dietary product is especially recommended for cancer patients, asthmatics and people suffering from other respiratory diseases, as well as those who have rheumatoid arthritis and other joint diseases.

Compared to other seafood, shrimp contain a higher amount of cholesterol, but it is much less than in liver, eggs or fish oil.

The only contraindication is individual intolerance to shrimp meat.

In countries where shrimp are part of traditional dishes, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases is much lower compared to many European countries.

The product is subjected to shock freezing, in which the herbal Chilim shrimp is cooled with intense airflow to -40 ° C. This method allows you to get the shrimp unchanged with the maximum content of useful elements.

Herbal chilim - a type of ten-legged crayfish - real shrimp comes from Sakhalin. Shrimps contain all the essential amino acids, a large amount of iodine, fat-soluble vitamins, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, cobalt, manganese, copper, molybdenum, fluorine, zinc, as well as vitamin E (tocopherol), C (ascorbic acid ), B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B9 (folic acid), PP (niacin), provitamin A (retinol) and B-carotene.

Herbal shrimp Chilim from the Morskoy put company is a Russian product that meets all state standards, from ecologically clean regions of the Far East. Careful attitude and strict laboratory control at all stages of production allows us to say that there are no analogues of our products on the market.

Among seafood, there are those that can rightfully be considered folk. Shrimps have always belonged to such seafood. This is due primarily to the people's love for excellent taste and the ability to buy shrimp at a very affordable, popular price. In addition, boiled shrimp is an excellent addition to your favorite folk foamy drink. The muscular belly of the shrimp, freed from chitin, is used both for eating boiled and for preparing various dishes.
Shrimps are caught in almost all seas of the world. They are on the Russian coast. Today you can freely buy chilim shrimp, shrimp - bear cub, comb, shrimp of other commercial species. Each type of shrimp is attractive for its nutritional qualities and herbal chilim is no exception.
We will try to find out where this shrimp is found, about its features and lifestyle.
Where and how does herbal chilim live
Herbal chilim is a typical inhabitant of the coastal zone of the Sea of ​​Japan. It is believed that the herbal chilim was previously a tropical species. The name grass chilim or grass shrimp was given to the marine crustacean by the fact that its entire life, from the larva to the adult sexually mature shrimp, passes in the coastal thickets of zooster algae.
Among these thickets, similar to grass, in May - June, grass chilim larvae hatch. Their size is not more than 0.9 cm, and their weight is 5-6 mg, while among the caught adults you can buy a shrimp with a body length of 18 cm and a weight of 25 g. The larvae grow quite quickly. In a month, their body length can double, and by the year it can already increase 10 times, and the body length of a one-year-old herbal chilim is at least 7-8 cm.
During the first year of life, young shrimp go through numerous molts. The entire body of the herbal chilim, like other decapod crayfish, is covered with chitin. It covers the herbal chilim, starting from the cephalothorax with a narrow elongated nasal process - the rostrum, and ending with a more flexible abdomen with a tail. At the junction of these parts on the lower side there is a small area with soft and elastic chitin, which remains unimpregnated with calcium, there are the same areas between the segments. When the old cover becomes tight, the shrimp molts; in the first hours of molting, its new shell remains soft and stretches in accordance with the new size of the shrimp. For the most part, only females can buy chillim shrimp. This is due to the fact that only young grassy chilims no older than two years old are males. At the age of three, they all change their gender. Males become females.
During the breeding season, germ cells in males of herbal chilim mature earlier than eggs in females. So that the shrimp lineage is not interrupted and you can freely buy a shrimp, males attach lumps of spermatozoa to the legs of females. When the eggs emerge, moving past the clumps, they are fertilized and attached to the villi on the legs of the female shrimp. There they are exactly 9 months. With the onset of May - June, larvae emerge from the eggs, completely repeating adult chilims in the shape of the body.
Since the zooster algae is predominantly found at a depth of 0.5 m to 10.0 m, herbaceous chilims also live at this depth. These crustaceans have adapted to instantly hide among the sea grass, and the protective coloration in the form of green stripes on the sides of the body makes them indistinguishable among dense thickets.
Chilim actively feeds in the thickets themselves or near them in the warm season. Numerous legs help him in this. The grass chilim has only 19 pairs of legs. Shrimps prey on small crustaceans, amphipods, wood lice, and molluscs. Chilims are not averse to eating juveniles of their own species, although they do not refuse a certain amount of plant food, they dine on zoostera and other algae.
With the onset of the cold season, the activity of the grass shrimp decreases, it stops feeding. Hiding in the ground between zooster rhizoids, chilims spend the winter almost without moving.
You can buy a shrimp at a fairly young age, no older than two or three years, in addition, grass shrimp rarely live longer than 4-5 years. The average size of caught commercial chilims is from 4.0 cm to 12.5 cm. Larger individuals in the catch are no more than 1-2%.
Since the population of coastal areas is actively engaged in catching grass chilim, its numbers can decrease to critical values.
In order to prevent this and not lose the opportunity to buy chilim shrimp, the situation is constantly monitored by scientists. In addition, technologies are being developed to restore the number of shrimp with the help of artificial breeding of juvenile chilim.
How to restore the number of herbal chillim shrimp
Scientists have developed a biotechnology aimed at obtaining offspring of chilims in artificial conditions. This method aims not only to obtain juveniles, but also to grow them to an age and size when the chilim becomes sufficiently viable and less vulnerable.
To obtain offspring from the sea, egg females are caught and placed in special aquariums.
It is designed in such a way that the females cannot harm the larvae that emerge from the eggs. After hatching, juvenile adult females are removed from the aquarium.
Further rearing of juveniles takes place in special rearing aquariums. The larvae are fed with special minced fish. In addition to fish meat, it includes algae, mollusks, crustaceans. When the juveniles reach a size of three cm, they are released into their habitats. Thanks to such technologies, it is possible to restore the number of grass chilim in the Sea of ​​Japan.
Herbal shrimp meat, like the meat of other commercial species, is distinguished not only by its excellent taste, but also by its benefits. And this is another reason to buy shrimp. It is an excellent source of complete protein and can be used in dietary nutrition.