Farfantepenaeus Aztecus
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''Farfantepenaeus aztecus'' is a species of marine
penaeid shrimp 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, ...
s found around the east coast of the US and Mexico. They are an important commercial species in the US. The
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...
refers to them as the northern brown shrimp; other
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
s, used in the US, are ''brown shrimp'', ''golden shrimp'', ''red shrimp'' or ''redtail shrimp''.Brown shrimp
''NOAA FishWatch''. Retrieved 4 November 2012.


Distribution

''Farfantepenaeus aztecus'' are found along the US Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Texas, and along the Atlantic coast of Mexico from Tamaulipas to Campeche. They live at depths of , with highest densities at , on muddy, peat, sandy or clay bottoms, or amongst broken shells. Juveniles are found in marine or estuarine waters, while adults are marine. This species has now been confirmed to occur in the Mediterranean, probably introduced in ship's ballast water, where it seems to be spreading and may threaten stocks of the native '' Melicertus kerathurus ''. In the southern coast of Sicily (central Mediterranean Sea), the species appears well established.


Description

Females reach a total length of and males .


Fishery

In the United States, of ''F. aztecus'' were landed in 2010, more than half of which was from the state of
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
.


Taxonomy

''Farfantepenaeus aztecus'' was first described by J. E. Ives in an 1891 paper in the ''
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia The ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating ...
'', as a variety of "''Penæus brasiliensis''" (now ''
Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis ''Farfantepenaeus'' is a genus of prawns in the family Penaeidae. Its eight species were formerly included in the genus '' Penaeus''. It was first published as a genus name in 1972 by Rudolf N. Burukovsky, but without the necessary designation of ...
''). The type locality was
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
, on the Mexico's Gulf coast . He distinguished the new variety on the basis of the extreme lengths of the antennal flagellum, which is 7–10× longer than the length of the carapace. "''P. aztecus''" was later treated as a full species, and when he erected the subgenus ''
Farfantepenaeus ''Farfantepenaeus'' is a genus of prawns in the family Penaeidae. Its eight species were formerly included in the genus '' Penaeus''. It was first published as a genus name in 1972 by Rudolf N. Burukovsky, but without the necessary designation of ...
'', Rudolf Burukovsky included "''P. aztecus''" among the species included in that subgenus. ''Farfantepenaeus'' was later raised to the rank of genus by
Isabel Pérez Farfante Isabel Pérez Farfante (July 24, 1916 – August 20, 2009) was a Cuban-born carcinologist. She was the first Cuban woman to receive her Ph.D. from an Ivy League school. She returned to Cuba from the United States only to be blacklisted by Fi ...
and Brian Kensley, giving the species its current name of ''Farfantepenaeus aztecus''.


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Crustaceans, Marine life Penaeidae Dendrobranchiata of the Atlantic Ocean Edible crustaceans Commercial crustaceans Crustaceans of Brazil Crustaceans described in 1891