The first record of the banana prawn Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (De Man, 1888) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae) from the Mediterranean Sea

Tahir Özcan

doi:10.3391/ai.2006.1.4.13

Abstract

A bilaterally ablated female banana prawn, Fenneropenaeus merguiensis, collected in the Bay of Iskenderun, southeastern Turkey on 6 October 2006, is likely an escape or an inadvertent release from an aquaculture facility. Because of the high permeability of aquaculture facilities, all introductions should be administered as to avoid unintentional releases or escapes into the wild.

Highlights

An adult female specimen of Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (De Man, 1888), length of carapace 53 mm, was collected in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey, on 6 October, 2006, at a depth of 20-35m, by the fishing boat ERKAN
Eight species of alien penaeid prawns occur in the Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean, all of them known from the Turkish coast: Marsupenaeus japonicus (Bate, 1888), Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798), Penaeus semisulcatus de Haan, 1844, Melicertus hathor (Burkenroad, 1959), Metapenaeopsis aegyptia Galil, 1990, Metapenaeopsis moigensis consobrina (Nobili, 1904), Metapenaeus stebbingi (Nobili, 1904), and Trachysalambria palaestinensis (Steinitz, 1932)
Fenneropenaeus merguiensis occurs in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, from the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, to New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia and Fiji (Pérez Farfante and Kensley 1997)

Summary

Introduction

An adult female specimen of Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (De Man, 1888), length of carapace (measured dorsally from the orbital margin to the posterior margin of the carapace) 53 mm, was collected in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey, (between 36°30'75"N, 35°59'70"E and 36°35'03"N, 36°59'77"E) on 6 October, 2006, at a depth of 20-35m, by the fishing boat ERKAN. Eight species of alien penaeid prawns occur in the Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean, all of them known from the Turkish coast: Marsupenaeus japonicus (Bate, 1888), Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798), Penaeus semisulcatus de Haan, 1844, Melicertus hathor (Burkenroad, 1959), Metapenaeopsis aegyptia Galil, 1990, Metapenaeopsis moigensis consobrina (Nobili, 1904), Metapenaeus stebbingi (Nobili, 1904), and Trachysalambria palaestinensis (Steinitz, 1932).

Results

Conclusion