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This study aimed to compare heat-induced gelation in Litopenaeus vannamei and Alaska pollock surimi. Gelation differs in shrimp surimi and surimi upon heating. Texture profile analysis revealed that the shrimp surimi was more elastic and harder than surimi. Frequency and creep and recovery tests indicated that the differences in gelation account for the higher levels of cross-linkage, elasticity, and hardness in shrimp surimi than in surimi. The temperature sweep test revealed two peaks for the shrimp surimi curve and only one peak for the surimi curve in response to heat treatment, representing protein denaturation peaks. Gel electrophoresis revealed that paramyosin (PM) is primarily responsible for these differences and the two peaks in the temperature sweep. Furthermore, the β-sheet content increased in both heated shrimp surimi and surimi in comparison with unheated groups, according to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. However, the α-helix content increased in shrimp surimi but decreased in surimi relative to the unheated groups. Therefore, gelation differed between the two materials, and the shrimp surimi structure was more stable than that of surimi. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the post-heating microstructure of shrimp surimi was denser than that of surimi. Fractal dimension calculations confirmed that shrimp surimi gel has a higher degree of cross-linkage than surimi gel because of paramyosin. These findings helped elucidate the heat-induced gelation process in shrimp surimi and develop more products in accordance with the features of shrimp surimi. Image 1 • Paramyosin in shrimp and other crustaceans confers superior gelling in surimi. • Relatively higher β-sheet and α-helix content in shrimp surimi make it dense. • Shrimp surimi has greater viscoelasticity than fish surimi due to its PM content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]