Eastern king prawn
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Dendrobranchiata
Family: Penaeidae
Genus: Melicertus
Species:
M. plebejus
Binomial name
Melicertus plebejus
(Hess, 1865)
Synonyms
  • Penaeus plebejus Hess, 1865
  • Penaeus canaliculatus australiensis Bate, 1888
  • Penaeus maccullochi Schmitt, 1926
  • Penaeus (Melicertus) plebejus (Hess, 1865) sec. Burkenroad, 1934
  • Melicertus plebejus (Hess, 1865) sec. Pérez Farfante & Kensley, 1997

The eastern king prawn is an edible dendrobranch prawn endemic to eastern Australia. Its scientific name is Melicertus plebejus or Penaeus plebejus. It is caught by commercial and recreational fishers for human food.

Names

Eastern king prawns are marketed in eastern Australia as "king prawns" without qualification. In southeast Queensland, they may also be called Mooloolabah prawns.[1]

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) uses French and Spanish names that are direct translations of "eastern royal prawn": Crevette royale orientale, Camarón real oriental. The FAO English name is "Eastern king prawn".[2]: 49 

Taxonomy and systematics

The species was first formally described by Wilhelm Hess in 1865, named Penaeus plebejus (type locality Sydney).[3]: (p. 168, and tafel VII fig. 19)  It was also described as Penaeus canaliculatus var. australiensis by Charles Spence Bate (1888). Waldo L. Schmitt (1926) described a separate species Penaeus maccullochi that was said to differ from P. plebejus in the nature of it carapace grooves;[4] they were subsequently considered to be the same species.[5]: 217 

In 1934, Martin Burkenroad separated the grooved-carapace species (including P. plebejus) into a separate sub-genus Penaeus (Melicertus).[lower-alpha 1] Subsequent authors from 1949 to 1972 split off additional subgenera. In 1997, Pérez Farfante & Kensley promoted the six subgenera to genus level, an approach that was subsequently followed by some authors but not others.[6]

Based on molecular sequences of ribosomal and nuclear genes, Ma, Chan, and Chu (2011) found that Melicertus with Marsupenaeus formed a clade separate from the other (sub)genera of Penaeus sensu lato. However, due to the lack of morphological features that distinguish the clades (synapomorphies), they argued against creating two or three[lower-alpha 2] genera, and proposed restoring all the species into a single large Penaeus genus.[6] Genetically, M. plebejus is most closely related to the western king prawns, M. latisculatus and M. (lat.) hathor.[6]

As at 2022, the name Penaeus plebejus is treated as "accepted" by checklists such as the World Register of Marine Species.[7][8] However, Melicertus plebejus is common in recent scientific literature, so when seeking information it is necessary to search for both names.

Description

A medium to large prawn, specimens are commonly 10–21 cm total length and 40–50 g; they may grow up to 30 cm.[9]

They have a single tooth on the ventral edge of the rostrum,[10][11] and 10–11 on the dorsal edge.[11]

Uncooked, they are light coral pink, with fine dark reddish-brown lines along the crests of the rostrum, carapace, and 5th to 7th tail segments. The distal part of the tail fan is pigmented blue to purple, and there can be slight blue pigmentation on the upper part of the walking legs above the "knees". The outer face of the swimming legs is whitish-pink, sometimes with a bluish tinge. Eyes are patterned black and dark tan.

The eastern king prawn is similar in form and colour to the western king prawn.[6] The latter has more blue colour on the upper legs. They can be difficult to tell apart, and are usually distinguished based on location.

Distribution and habitat

Juveniles inhabit estuaries, especially seagrass beds. Adults are found in coastal and estuarine waters,[10] at depths up to 220 m.[11]

They are found along the temperate to subtropical east coast of Australia from Bass Strait and north-east Tasmania in the south to Rockhampton in the north.[9][lower-alpha 3]

Hexham Swamp on the Hunter River is considered by fishermen to have previously been a major nursery for eastern king prawns. After construction of floodgates in the 1970s, prawn stocks declined noticeably as the swamp dried out.[13]

Fisheries

Eastern king prawns are wild-caught, particularly off the coasts of New South Wales and Queensland. They are harvested "by the dark of the moon" from mid-summer to winter using demersal otter trawling.[14]

From 2011 to 2019, the annual catch of eastern king prawns varied between 2.7 and 3.5 kt. The maximum sustainable yield has been estimated a 2.4 kt.[15]

The export code for "Prawn – Eastern King" is PWJ.[16] CAAB code for the species, used in catch reporting and fisheries management, is 28 711052.[17][lower-alpha 4]

Notes

  1. ↑ The name Melicertus is from Melicertus tigrinus Rafinesque, 1814 syn. Cancer kerathurus Forskål, 1775.
  2. ↑ Melicertus clade incl. Marsupenaeus; Penaeus clade = Penaeus s.s (sec. Pérez Farfante & Kensley 1997) + Fenneropenaeus; Litopenaeus clade incl. Farfantepenaeus.
  3. ↑ Sources variously state the southernmost extent as Lakes Entrance (Victoria),[11] Georges Bay, St Helens (Tasmania),[12] or generally as Bass Strait.[9]
  4. ↑ Code 28 711910 is for unspecified Australian species of king prawn.[18] Melicertus spp. is 28 711925, and family Penaeidae is 28 711.

References

  1. ↑ "Queensland Prawn Species". queenslandprawns.com. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  2. ↑ Holthius, L. B. (1980), Vol. 1, Shrimps and Prawns of the World: An annotated catalogue of species of interest to fisheries. (PDF), FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125 (FIR/S125), Rome: FAO
  3. ↑ Hess, Wilhelm (1865). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Decapoden-Krebse Ost-Australiens" [Contributions to the knowledge of the decapod crustaceans of eastern Australia]. Archiv für Naturgeschichte (in German). 31 (1): 127–173, Pls. VI-VIII. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.15862. Der Cephalothorax trägt in der Medianlinie einen von zwei tiefen Furchen begleiteten Längskiel. Das Rostrum ist fast grade, die Spitze etwas nach oben gebogen, behaart und oben mit zehn, unten mit einem Zahne versehen. Die Endfäden der oberen Antennen überragen fast den Körper. Das Abdomen ist fast rechtwineklig gebogen. Die beiden vorletzten Glieder haben an der oberen Seite einen scharfen Rand, welche beim vorletzten Gliede in einen kleinen Stachel ausläuft.
  4. ↑ Schmitt, W. L. (1926). "Report on the Crustacea Macrura (Families Peneidae, Campylonotidae and Pandalidæ) obtained by the F.I.S. "Endeavour" in Australian Seas. With notes on the species of "Penæus" described by Haswell and contained, in part, in the collections of the Mcleay Museum, at the University of Sydney". Biological Results of the Fishing Experiments Carried on by the F.I.S. "Endeavour" 1909-14. 5 (6): 311–381. Schmitt describes P. plebejus on pp. 367–370 and P. maccullochi sp. nov. as having different carination on p.370–371. Plates: lxv, lxvi, lxviii.
  5. ↑ De Grave, S.; Fransen, C.H.J.M. (2011). "Carideorum catalogus: the recent species of the dendrobranchiate, stenopodidean, procarididean and caridean shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda)". Zoologische Mededelingen. 85 (9): 195–589. source details online copy
  6. 1 2 3 4 Ma, Ka Yan; Chan, Tin-Yam; Chu, Ka Hou (September 2011). "Refuting the six-genus classification of Penaeus s.l. (Dendrobranchiata, Penaeidae): a combined analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear genes". Zoologica Scripta. 40 (5): 498–508. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00483.x. S2CID 83771830.
  7. ↑ Charles Fransen (2011–2014). "Penaeus plebejus Hess, 1865". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 30 Apr 2022.
  8. ↑ Pan, De Grave, & Fransen (2008–2014). "Melicertus plebejus (Hess, 1865)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 30 Apr 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. 1 2 3 "King Prawn". Sydney Fish Market. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Prawns - School prawn Metapenaeus macleayi and Eastern king prawn Penaeus plebejus". NSW Department of Primary Industries. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Eastern King Prawn". Queensland Museum. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Eastern king prawn (Melicertus plebejus)". Redmap. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "Eastern King Prawn project update - June 2014". NSW Department of Primary Industries. 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "Australian Wild Prawns: The most common commercially fished prawn species around Australia". Australian Prawn Fisheries. Australian Council of Prawn Fisheries (ACPF). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  15. ↑ Roelofs, Anthony; Taylor, Matthew (June 2021). "Eastern King Prawn (2020)". fish.gov.au. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "Fish product codes for EXDOC users". Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Australian Government. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota (CAAB) Taxon Report: Melicertus plebejus (Hess, 1865)". CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure - Information and Data Centre. CSIRO. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  18. ↑ "Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota (CAAB) Taxon Report: Melicertus latisulcatus, Melicertus plebejus & Melicertus longistylus". CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure - Information and Data Centre. CSIRO. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  • Photos, and video showing burrowing and locomotion, at Museums Victoria
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