Langostino

Langostino is a word of Spanish origin commonly applied to various types of crustacean. “Langostino” is the Spanish diminutive of langosta(spiny lobster), which comes from the Latin for locust.

In the United States, it is commonly used in the restaurant trade to refer to the meat of squat lobsters, which are not true lobsters but are more closely related to porcelain and hermit crabs. Also, langostinos are sometimes confused with Norway lobster, also called langoustines. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration allows "langostino" to be used as a market name for three species of squat lobster in the family Galatheidae: Cervimunida johni, Munida gregaria, and Pleuroncodes monodon.

In Spain and Venezuela, it means some species of prawns. In Cuba and other Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands, the name langostino is also used to refer to crayfish, which are freshwater species. In Argentina the name is used to refer to Pleoticus muelleri, a kind of shrimp, while in Chile and Peru it refers to Pleuroncodes monodon.