''Penaeus esculentus'' (the brown tiger prawn, common tiger prawn or ''tiger prawn'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

which is widely fished for consumption around

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Ecology

Juvenile ''P. esculentus'' live in

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and ...

beds, and reach

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...

at a

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

length of around . Adults grow up to long, and resemble ''

Penaeus monodon ''Penaeus monodon'', commonly known as the giant tiger prawn, Asian tiger shrimp, black tiger shrimp, and other names, is a marine crustacean that is widely reared for food. Taxonomy ''Penaeus monodon'' was species description, first described ...

'', albeit smaller and browner. They live offshore at depths of up to .

Distribution

''P. esculentus'' appears to be

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

n waters, being found in warm waters from central

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(near

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

) to

Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, chiefly at depths of . There is little population structure in the species, with only slight differentiation between regions east and west of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

land bridge In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...

between Australia and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Fisheries and aquaculture

Around of brown tiger prawns are caught each year. Fisheries in Torres Strait are worth around A$24 million per year. It is closely related to ''

'', with which it can hybridise. It has the potential to be 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. Nelu ...

(

shrimp farm Shrimp farming is a form of aquaculture that takes place in marine or freshwater environments, producing shrimp or prawns (crustaceans of the groups Caridea or Dendrobranchiata) for human consumption. However, the industry has raised concerns abou ...

ing) since, although it grows less rapidly than ''P. monodon'', it commands higher prices.

Taxonomic history

William Aitcheson Haswell William Aitcheson Haswell (5 August 1854 – 24 January 1925) was a Scottish-Australian zoologist specialising in crustaceans, winner of the 1915 Clarke Medal. His zoological author abbreviation is Haswell. Early life Haswell was born at Gay ...

arrived in Australia in 1878, and began working in a marine zoology laboratory at

Watsons Bay Watsons Bay is a harbourside, Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, ...

. In 1879, he described ''Penaeus esculentus'' in a paper in the

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succ ...

, basing his description on material in the Macleay Museum which had come from

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

and

Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, and is the most northerly port in Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay, and East Arm Wharf. Since 2015, the port has bee ...

, and noting that ''P. esculentus'' is "the common edible prawn of Sydney, and Newcastle, ''etc.''".

References

{{Authority control Penaeidae Crustaceans described in 1879 Edible crustaceans Commercial crustaceans Taxa named by William Aitcheson Haswell