Are shrimps and prawns indeed the same thing? They look and taste the same, but I thought they were different species, like crocodile and alligator.
Hadn't spent much time in the UK but did live on the continent for about a year. Would transit through the UK on occasion and enjoyed the chance to pick up a bit of marmite. Miss the stuff:(
As far as I aware what we call prawns are your shrimps. What we call shrimps may well be slightly different because they are smaller and normally brown and you eat the skins because they are too fiddly to peel.
Here is info on them indeed they do seem different but in common speech I think most people interchange them and probably get them muddled. I suspect that we are probably both guilty of getting the differences wrong and it has become easier to refer to all types in the UK as prawns and shrimps in the States.
http://www.pznow.co.uk/marine/decopoda.html