White Shrimp are found primarily at depths less than about 36 meters, although they may occur to 80 meters (Perez-Farfante 1969 and references therein).

White Shrimp inshore live mostly on muddy or peaty bottoms that have large quantities of decaying organic matter or vegetation for protection. Occasionally they occur on bottoms of sand or clay. Adult White Shrimp are most abundant in offshore waters on soft muddy and silt bottoms. They also live on bottoms of clay or sand with fragments of shells. They burrow in the bottom, but apparently not as regularly as do the Brown (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) or Pink (F. duorarum) Shrimps. The White Shrimp leaves its long antennae lying on the surface of the bottom, whereas the other two shrimps often bury their antennae (which are shorter than those of the white shrimp). (Perez-Farfante 1969 and references therein.)

White Shrimp juveniles require an estuarine environment for development. The adults live and spawn offshore, and their favored habitats include areas with abundant plant life and muddy substrates. (McMillen-Jackson and Bert 2003 and references therein).