Professorial Dissertation from the year 2017 in the subject Biology - Zoology, grade: 1.5, course: Zoology, language: English, abstract: Shrimps and Prawns of various kinds have certainly been a source of protein for human consumptions from very early times. Within historical times reference is made to prawn in ancient Chinese and Japanese literature. Usage of the term "Prawn‟ and "Shrimp‟ are somewhat confusing. In some western literature the term "Shrimp‟ is applied for Penaeoidea and Sergestoidea, but in the east these are called "Prawn‟. Holthuis discussed the contradiction but did not arrive at any conclusion. In the Prawn Symposium of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council held at Tokyo in 1955 it was decided that the word "Prawn‟ should be applied to the Penaeids, Pandalids and Palemonids while "Shrimp‟ to the smaller species belonging to the other families. As such in the present study the term "Prawn‟ is used for all the species belonging to family Penaeidae. Among a variety of edible decapod crustaceans, prawns contribute largely to the fishery wealth of many nations. Exploitation of prawn resource from the seas around each country is playing increasingly significant role in furthering their national economy. In recent years, in spite of some ecological hazards, the demand for prawns and prawn products has increased so much that every country is making efforts to utilize hitherto unknown but usable stocks and expansion of prawn fisheries and industries near coast line is rightly being given the maximum encouragement in the development programme of each nation. After the work of Burkenroad and Kubo, the genus Penaeus has been revised in several times by Tirmizi, Burukovsky and Perez Farfanty & Kensley and classified into six established genera. The chronological history of the development of six genera has been given bellow.