Langostino is a type of crustacean that is commonly used in the restaurant trade in the United States to refer to the meat of the squat lobster, which is neither a true lobster nor a prawn. Squat lobsters are more closely related to porcelain and hermit crabs, and crustaceans labeled as langostino are no more than 8 cm (3 in) long and weigh no more than 200 g (7 oz). Langostino is a Spanish word with different meanings in different areas. In Spain, it means some species of prawns, while in Cuba and other Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands, the name langostino is also used to refer to crawfish.

Langostino looks like a small lobster and has purple racing stripes on its sides which disappear after it is cooked. It belongs to a different species than lobster, and in appearance, it looks like lobsters, but it is about the size of a large prawn. Langostino takes less time to cook than lobster, and the FDA doesn’t allow langostino to be called or labeled lobster because it technically isn’t a lobster. Langostinos only grow to a maximum length of 10 inches, and they can only legally be called lobster if they have some kind of modifier in the name like “langostino lobster” or “squat lobster”.

In summary, langostino is a type of crustacean that is commonly used in the restaurant trade in the United States to refer to the meat of the squat lobster, which is neither a true lobster nor a prawn. It looks like a small lobster, but it is about the size of a large prawn, and it takes less time to cook than lobster. The FDA doesn’t allow langostino to be called or labeled lobster because it technically isn’t a lobster.