''Penaeus'' is a genus of

prawns Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (members of the order of decapods), some of which are edible. The term ''prawn''Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature's most ...

, including the giant tiger prawn (''P. monodon''), the most important species of farmed crustacean worldwide.

Taxonomy

The genus has been reorganised following a proposition of Pérez Farfante and Kensley based on morphological differences, in particular the

genital A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

characteristics of these animals, although this revision has not been universally accepted. Following the revision, many species formerly in the genus ''Penaeus'' (members of which are listed to the right) have been reassigned to new genera in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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, ...

: ''

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 ...

'', ''Fenneropenaeus'', ''

Litopenaeus ''Litopenaeus'' is a genus of Dendrobranchiata, prawns, formerly included in the genus ''Penaeus''. It contains five species: Parasites ''Litopenaeus'' is a suspected host of ''Vibrio parahaemolyticus'', a pathogen of humans. References

...

'', and ''

Marsupenaeus ''Marsupenaeus'' is a monotypic genus of prawn. It contains a single species, ''Marsupenaeus japonicus'', known as the kuruma shrimp, kuruma prawn, or Japanese tiger prawn. It occurs naturally in bays and seas of the Indo-West Pacific, but has al ...

''. The following table gives an overview: A few more species that are sometimes given as ''Penaeus'' spp. are actually assigned to the genus ''

Melicertus ''Melicertus'' is a genus of "king" prawns, comprising eight species which were previously classified as members of the genus ''Penaeus'': *'' Melicertus canaliculatus'' (Olivier, 1811) - witch prawn *'' Melicertus hathor'' (Burkenroad, 1959) * ...

'':

References

External links

*
List of species
{{Authority control Crustacean genera Penaeidae Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius