What about cockroaches? Do they have anything in common with shrimp?
As a matter of fact they do, and this is why it’s so important to understand how scientists group things. Cockroaches are insects. And shrimp are crustaceans. And while they both belong to their own groups (insects and crustaceans), they also share characteristics that group them together.
What are those characteristics?
Both insects and crustaceans have three part bodies, made up of a head, thorax, and abdomen.
Both have jointed legs.
And both have exoskeletons. An exoskeleton means that their bodies’ “bones” are on the outside instead of the inside (like yours). If you’ve ever eaten steamed shrimp, you probably know that they have a hard shell you have to take off first. This is the shrimp’s exoskeleton, and insects such as cockroaches have them too.
Creatures that share these characteristics belong to a group called Arthropods, which also include animals like spiders and centipedes. Scientists have found that insects and crustaceans have a particularly close evolutionary relationship, though. So close that they belong to a group all their own called Pancrustacea.
That means that shrimp, lobsters, and other crustaceans are related – very closely related – not only to cockroaches, but to all other insects, too.
https://cockroachfacts.com/are-shrimp-cockroaches-related/
You go right ahead and eat all the cockroaches your heart desires. I and I believe the overwhelming majority of people will take a pass.
Yum!