Among the main production countries of Penaeus vannamei are China, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, Vietnam, Malaysia, Peru, Colombia, India, Philippines, etc.

•  Distribution: It is native to the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean, from Sonora, Mexico to the North, to Central and South America to Tumbes in Peru, in water whose temperature is normally above 20 °C throughout the year. Penaeus vannamei is found in tropical marine habitats. Adults live and reproduce in the open sea, while the postlarvae migrate to the coasts to pass the juvenile and pre-adult stages in estuaries, coastal lagoons and mangroves.
•  Feed: Larval stages are planktonic, feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton, and are transported to the coast by currents. Postlarvae change their planktonic habits about 5 days after their metamorphosis, move to the coast and begin to feed on benthic detritus, worms, bivalves and crustaceans.
•  Farming: Ponds and ground tanks.
•  Repro: Males mature from 20 g and females from 28 g at an age of 6 to 7 months. When P. vannamei weighs between 30 and 45 g, it releases between 100,000 and 250,000 ova that are 0.22 mm in diameter.