''Trachysalambria curvirostris'' (formerly ''Trachypenaeus curvirostris'') is a species of

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 ...

that lives in shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific. It is one of the most important species targeted by

prawn fishery The shrimp fishery is a major global industry, with more than 3.4 million tons caught per year, chiefly in Asia. Rates of bycatch are unusually high for shrimp fishing, with the capture of sea turtles being especially contentious. A shrimper is a ...

, with annual harvests of more than 300,000 t, mostly landed in China.

Distribution and ecology

''T. curvirostris'' is widely distributed across the

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the s ...

, from

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

and the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

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 ...

. It has also entered the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

as a

Lessepsian migrant The Lessepsian migration (or Erythrean invasion) is the migration of marine species along the Suez Canal, usually from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and more rarely in the opposite direction. When the canal was completed in 1869, fish, ...

, through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. It lives at depths of over sandy or muddy bottoms.

Description

''Trachysalambria curvirostris'' is a small prawn, with males reaching a total length of up to , and females reaching . The

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 internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...

is "densely pubescent" (covered in thick down). The

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

is straight or slightly curved upwards, and bears 7–11 teeth on the dorsal (upper) side. The last four segments of the pleon have a median crest, while the second segment has a

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projectio ...

on the mid-line. ''T. curvirostris'' can be distinguished from similar species that occur in the same areas (such as '' Megokris sedili'' and '' Megokris granulosus'') by the form of the petasma and thelycum (male and female reproductive structures), and by the colouration of the

uropod Uropods are posterior appendages found on a wide variety of crustaceans. They typically have functions in locomotion. Definition Uropods are often defined as the appendages of the last body segment of a crustacean. An alternative definition sugge ...

s; these are red or reddish brown, with conspicuous white margins in ''T. curvirostris'', but yellowish with grey or brown margins and centre in ''M. sedili'', and red or reddish brown with golden margins in ''M. granulosus''.

Life cycle

The biology of ''T. curvirostris'' is poorly known; in the waters around Korea, mating takes place in June, July and August. Females lay up to 100,000 eggs, each one around in diameter, with the female's

fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the capability to produc ...

being directly related to her body size. Over the next 15 hours, the eggs grow to in diameter; at this point, they hatch into the first nauplius larva. The nauplii have only three pairs of

appendage An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part or natural prolongation that protrudes from an organism's body such as an arm or a leg. Protrusions from single-celled bacteria and archaea are known as cell-surface appendages or surface app ...

s: two pairs of antennae, and the

mandibles In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

. The larva passes through a further five naupliar stages by

ecdysis Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticle in many invertebrates of the clade Ecdysozoa. Since the cuticle of these animals typically forms a largely inelastic exoskeleton, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The remnant ...

, with increasing numbers of

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

e (bristles) appearing on the appendages at each stage. Around 41 hours after hatching, the larva moults into the first protozoea stage, by which time the body is long. The body is now differentiated into a

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

and an

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

, bears several thoracic appendages, and the larva now begins to ingest food. After a further two protozoea stages, the larva hatches into the first mysis stage. This is typically 7 days after hatching, and the animal is typically around long. There are a further two mysis stages before the first post-larval stage, at a length of around . In this stage, the

pleopod The anatomy of a decapod consists of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment – often called a somite – may possess one pair of appendages, although in various groups these m ...

s (swimmerets; abdominal appendages) become functional, and the animal closely resembles the adult form. Females live for 14–15 months, 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 . Males live for 13–14 months. In Korean waters, the adults migrate into shallower water in April.

Fishery

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...

for ''T. curvirostris'' was started in the mid 20th century, growing to over 300,000 t annually in the 21st century. It is a commercially important species in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and is also fished on smaller scales in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

. Although it is abundant around the coasts of

, ''T. curvirostris'' is too small to be commercially viable there. The fishery for ''T. curvirostris'' is carried out with otter trawls,

gill net Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

s and as an

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

al fishery. It is easier to catch at night, and is fished only in waters less than deep. Worldwide, ''T. curvirostris'' is one of the five most important single species targeted by shrimp and prawn fisheries, with most of the harvest being landed in China. In Korea, ''T. curvirostris'' is the dominant species in the shrimp fishery, accounting for more than 50% of landings (other abundant prawn species in the area include '' Penaeus chinensis'', ''

Metapenaeus joyneri ''Metapenaeus'' is a genus of prawns, containing the following species: *'' Metapenaeus affinis'' (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) *'' Metapenaeus alcocki'' M. J. George & Rao, 1968 *'' Metapenaeus anchistus'' (de Man, 1920) *'' Metapenaeus arabicus'' H ...

'' and '' Metapenaeopsis dalei'').

Taxonomy

The species was first described by

William Stimpson William Stimpson (February 14, 1832 – May 26, 1872) was an American scientist. He was interested particularly in marine biology. Stimpson became an important early contributor to the work of the Smithsonian Institution and later, director o ...

in 1860, as a species in the genus ''

Penaeus ''Penaeus'' is a genus of prawns, 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 bas ...

'', with a type locality of

Shimoda, Shizuoka 270px, Shimoda City Hall is a city and port located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 19,670 in 10,436 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . In the 1850s, Japan was in p ...

, Japan. In 1901, Alcock erected a new genus ''Trachypeneus'' (later emended to ''Trachypenaeus'' after a petition to the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

Lipke Holthuis Lipke Bijdeley Holthuis (21 April 1921 – 7 March 2008) was a Dutch carcinologist, considered one of the "undisputed greats" of carcinology, and "the greatest carcinologist of our time". Holthuis was born in Probolinggo, East Java and obtained ...

). In 1934,

Martin Burkenroad Martin David Burkenroad (March 20, 1910 – January 12, 1986) was an American marine biologist. He specialized in decapod crustaceans and fisheries science. Biography Burkenroad was born in New Orleans in 1910 as the only child of coffee import ...

introduced ''Trachysalambria'' as a subgenus of ''Trachypenaeus'', assigning ''T. curvirostris'' as its

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. This subgenus was in turn elevated to the rank of genus in 1997, 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.

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 for the species include "cocktail shrimp", "hardback prawn", "southern rough prawn", and the name preferred by the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

, "southern rough shrimp".

References

External links

*
Illustrations of ''T. curvirostris''
from the

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5234019 Penaeidae Crustaceans described in 1860 Commercial crustaceans Edible crustaceans