Tropical species such asP. monodon,P. vannamei, andP. stylirostriswere first considered as candidate species for aquaculture in early 1970s or around 25 years ago. At that time, the first nutrition studies began in laboratories using wild stock. Most labs were under pressure to find quick answers to the formulation of shrimp feeds. Feed manufacturers conducted a number of proprietary experiments. Shrimp nutritionists did not link their problems to those encountered with monogastrics and specific problems were faced such as leaching of nutrients, slow feeding response of shrimp, and lack of proper methodology. Even today, despite new advances in New Caledonia withP. stylirostrisor in Ecuador withP. vannamei, empiricism is present and formulae calculated with a least cost program do not prove to be fully satisfactory. There is need for a better understanding of shrimp nutrition in the tropical climates. There is still a gap to fill between results of experiments conducted in fully managed water and from production ponds. Requirements for cholesterol, fatty acids, vitamins, and soluble proteins have been addressed by many authors. Nevertheless, the actual impact of natural productivity vs. pelleted food distributed needs to be assessed. Today, the search for a low pollution diet is important to focus on two major areas: (1) a search for quality protein through a digestibility screening, and (2) the study of metabolic activity with the measurement of energy expenditure. This goal is reasonable as it follows previously conducted salmonid experiments. The expected results would be better food conversion indices and less water-quality degradation in shrimp production ponds.