Penaeus monodon, commonly known as the giant tiger prawn,
Taxonomy
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.
Description
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.
Distribution
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
Invasive species
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.
[Knott, D.M., P.L. Fuller, A.J. Benson, and M.E. Neilson, 2019, Penaeus monodon: U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL] Escapes in other parts of the world, though, have led to established
P. monodon populations, such as off West Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean.
[ Sahel and West Africa Club (2006) Exploring Economic Opportunities in Sustainable Shrimp Farming in West Africa: Focus on South-South Cooperation. Meeting Report. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (Accessed 29 May 2013)]
Habitat
P. monodon is suited to inhabit a multitude of environments.
[Motoh, H. (1985). Biology and ecology of Penaeus monodon. In Taki Y., Primavera J. H. and Llobrera J. A. (Eds.). Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Culture of Penaeid Prawns/Shrimps, 4–7 December 1984, Iloilo City, Philippines (pp. 27-36). Iloilo City, Philippines: Aquaculture Department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center. ] 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.
[FAO-FIRA, 2010. "Giant Tiger Prawn Home" (On-line). Accessed April 15, 2019 at http://affris.org/giant_tiger_prawn/overview.php ] The
P. monodon has shown to be nocturnal in the wild, burrowing into substrate during the day, and coming out at night to feed.
[Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme. Penaeus monodon. Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme. Text by Kongkeo, H. In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department online. Rome. Updated 29 July 2005. Cited.] P. monodon typically feed on
detritus,
polychaete worms,
Mollusca, and small crustaceans.
They feed on algae, as well. Due to their nutrient-rich diet, these shrimp are unable to consume phytoplankton because of their feeding appendages, but they are able to consume senescent phytoplankton.
They also commence mating at night, and can produce around 800,000 eggs.
Aquaculture
In the late 1960s
Liao I-chiu played an important role in developing methods to farm tiger shrimp. As a result he is known as the "Father of Shrimp Farming."
P. monodon is the second-most widely cultured prawn species in the world, after only whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. In 2009, 770,000 were produced, with a total value of US$3,650,000,000.["Giant Tiger Prawn". Sea Grant Extension Project. Louisiana State University] Diseases such as white spot disease and yellowhead disease have led to a great economic impact in shrimp industries around the globe.
Black tiger shrimp's susceptibility to many diseases engenders economic constraints towards the black tiger shrimp food industry in Australia, which is farm-raised. To confront such challenges, attempts have been made to selectively breed specific pathogen-resistant lines of the species.
P. monodon has been farmed throughout the world, including West Africa, Hawaii, Tahiti, and England.
Sustainable consumption
In 2010,
Greenpeace added
P. monodon to its seafood red list – "a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries". The reasons given by Greenpeace were "destruction of vast areas of mangroves in several countries, overfishing of juvenile shrimp from the wild to supply farms, and significant human-rights abuses".
File:Tiger prawn IMG 1658.jpg
File:Flickr - cyclonebill - Tigerrejer med spinat, safrancreme og chili.jpg|With spinach and saffron cream sauce
File:Brochette de fruits de mer aux herbes.jpg|With coulis
File:Ebi Chili Mayo (3470640036).jpg|Tempura with wonton chips
Genetic research
In an effort to understand whether
DNA repair processes can protect
against infection, basic research was conducted to elucidate the repair mechanisms used by
P. monodon.
Repair of DNA double-strand breaks was found to be predominantly carried out by accurate homologous recombinational repair. Another, less accurate process, microhomology-mediated end joining, is also used to repair such breaks.
See also
-
Macrobrachium rosenbergii, the giant freshwater prawn
