| Marsupenaeus japonicus | |
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| Genus: | Marsupenaeus Tirmizi, 1971 |
| Species: | M. japonicus |
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| Marsupenaeus japonicus (Spence Bate, 1888) [1] | |
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Marsupenaeus is amonotypicgenus ofprawn. It contains a single species,Marsupenaeus japonicus, known as thekuruma shrimp,kuruma prawn, orJapanese tiger prawn. It occurs naturally in bays and seas of theIndo-West Pacific, but has also reached theMediterranean Sea as aLessepsian migrant. It is one of the largest species of prawns, and is accordingly one of the most economically important species in the family.
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Males ofM. japonicus can reach a total length of 17 cm (6.7 in), while females may reach 27 cm (11 in)[2] and a mass of 130 grams (4.6 oz), making it one of the largest species in the familyPenaeidae.[3] The body is pale, with brown bands across the back, while thepereiopods andpleopods (walking and swimming legs, respectively) are pale yellow near their bases, and blue near the tips.[3] Therostrum bears 8–10spines on the top, and one or two below.[3]
M. japonicus lives inbays and inland seas, particularly where warmcurrents occur.[3] It isnocturnal, remaining buried in the substrate during the day.[2] Itspredators includebony fishes andcartilaginous fishes.[2]
When the sea temperature exceeds 20 °C (68 °F),spawning can begin.[3] Duringcopulation, the male transfers aspermatophore to the female, which she stores in aseminal receptacle. She travels to deep water, where she then releases around 700,000eggs.[3] These hatch asnauplii, and pass through further five nauplius stages, threezoeae, and three mysis stages bymoulting before reaching the postlarval stage.[3]
The natural distribution ofM. japonicus extends from the coast ofEast Africa and theRed Sea as far east asFiji andJapan.[2]
M. japonicus has entered theMediterranean Sea as a Lessepsian migrant, through the Suez Canal. It was first observed in Egypt in 1924, and has since spread through theLevant and around the coast ofTurkey.[2] Further populations have been established after the species was released at various sites aroundFrance,Italy, andGreece.
The species wasfirst described byCharles Spence Bate in 1888 as "Penaeus canaliculatus var.japonicus". In 1971, N. M. Tirmizi established a new subgenus ofPenaeus forP. japonicus,[4] and raised to the rank of genus byIsabel Pérez Farfante and Brian Kensley in 1997.[5]M. japonicus remains the only species in the genus.[6]
Common names for the species include "kuruma shrimp",[3] "kuruma prawn"[2] and "Japanese tiger prawn".[7]
M. japonicus is considered "one of the most economically important members of the family Penaeidae".[3] In its introduced range, it is the subject offishing bytrawling in the eastern Mediterranean, especially around theGulf of İskenderun.[2] It is also fished in various parts of its natural range, but its greatest importance is inaquaculture; since 2003, more than 38,000 tonnes (84,000,000 lb) have been produced inshrimp farms annually, and the value of the annual catch exceeds US$200 million.[8]
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