Penaeus monodon

Penaeus monodon, commonly known as the giant tiger prawn, Asian tiger shrimp, black tiger shrimp, and other names, is a marine crustacean that is widely reared for food. Penaeus monodon was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798. That name was overlooked until 1949, when Lipke Holthuis clarified to which species it referred. Holthuis also showed that P. monodon had to be the type species of the genus Penaeus. Females can reach about long, but are typically long and weigh ; males are slightly smaller at long and weighing . The carapace and abdomen are transversely banded with alternative red and white. The antennae are grayish brown. Brown pereiopods and pleopods are present with fringing setae in red. Its natural distribution is the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the eastern coast of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, as far as Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and northern Australia. It is an invasive species in the northern waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean off the Southern U.S. The first occurrence of P. monodon in the U.S. was in November 1988. Close to 300 shrimp were captured off the Southeastern shore after an accidental release from an aquaculture facility. This species can now be caught in waters from Texas to North Carolina. Although P. monodon has been an invasive species for many years, it has yet to grow large, established populations. Escapes in other parts of the world, though, have led to established P. monodon populations, such as off West Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean. P. monodon is suited to inhabit a multitude of environments. They mainly occur in Southeastern Asia, but are widely found. Juveniles of P. monodon are generally found in sandy estuaries and mangroves, and upon adulthood, they move to deeper waters (0- 110 m) and live on muddy or rocky bottoms. The P. monodon has shown to be nocturnal in the wild, burrowing into substrate during the day, and coming out at night to feed. P. monodon typically feed on detritus, polychaete worms, mollusks, and small crustaceans.