''Metapenaeus stebbingi'', the peregrine shrimp is a species of marine crustacean from the family
Penaeidae
Penaeidae is a family of marine crustaceans in the suborder Dendrobranchiata, which are often referred to as penaeid shrimp or penaeid prawns. The Penaeidae contain many species of economic importance, such as the tiger prawn, whiteleg shrimp, ...
. It is native to the Indian Ocean but in the second half of the 20th century it was found to have invaded the Mediterranean Sea.
Description
''Metapenaeus stebbingi'' grows to a maximum length of 11 cm in males and 14 cm in females. The shell is off white or cream, marked with rust-coloured speckles. The tail fan has reddish margins, with the antennae being a similar colour. The upper margin of the rostrum has 7–10 teeth while the first and third pairs of walking legs have a basal spine. The
merus of the fifth walking leg of the male has an indentation on its inner margin.
Distribution
''Metapenaeus stebbingi'' was formerly thought to be
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
but is now known from many parts of the western Indian Ocean from the
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
to western
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
It was first identified in the Mediterranean off Egypt in 1924 and has since spread as far north as the south coast of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and as far west as
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
.
[
]
Biology
''Metapenaeus stebbingi'' occurs in water with sandy or sandy-mud substrates down to 90 m in depth. The juveniles are found in shallow coastal waters and while the adults are normally further offshore where they bury themselves in the substrate during the day, emerging to forage at night.[ Studies in East Africa found that this species was at its greatest abundance in areas of sand flats and mud flats.]
Fisheries and aquaculture
''Metapenaeus stebbingi'' is an important species for fisheries in its native range.[ Since invading the Mediterranean it has become increasingly important in fisheries, especially in the ]Levant Sea
The Levantine Sea (Arabic: بحر الشام, tr, Levanten Denizi, el, Θάλασσα του Λεβάντε) is the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea.
Geography
The Levantine Sea is bordered by Turkey in the north and north-east co ...
. In southern Turkey it is used in aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
, being reared in artificial ponds along the coast.[
]
Etymology
''Metapenaeus stebbingi'' by the Italian carcinologist Giuseppe Nobili
Giuseppe Nobili (1877-1908) was an Italian zoologist at the University of Turin, specialising in Crustacea, who was born at Omegna in Piedmont in 1877 and died at Omegna in 1908. His father was Dr. Gaudenzio Nobili and his mother, Adele Antonioli ...
in 1904, the specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
honours the English Zoologist Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6491718
Penaeidae
Crustaceans described in 1904