Prawns are Decapods, belonging to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata . They are similar in appearance to shrimp, but can be distinguished by the gill structure which is branching in prawns (hence the name, dendro=“tree”; branchia=“gill”), but is lamellar in shrimp. The sister taxon to Dendrobranchiata is Pleocyemata, which contains all the true shrimp, crabs, lobsters, etc. Etymology In various forms of English, the name “prawn” is often applied to shrimp as well… (More on Prawns)