| | See tree map
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| | Synonyms
| | | | Penaeus indicus merguiensis De Man, 1882 |
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| FAO Names | | En - Banana prawn, Fr - Crevette banane, Sp - Langostino banana. |
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3Alpha Code: PBA Taxonomic Code: 2280100103 |
| Scientific Name with Original Description | | | Penaeus merguiensis De Man, 1888, J.Linn.Soc.Lond.(Zool.), 22:287. |
| Geographical Distribution | |
| | Indo-West Pacific: from the Persian Gulf to Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines. Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia and N. Australia (north of 29°S). |
| Habitat and Biology | | | Depth 10 to 45 m.Bottom mud. Estuarine and marine. |
| Size | | | Maximum total length 240 mm (female). |
| Interest to Fisheries | |
Global Capture production for
Penaeus merguiensis
(FAO Fishery Statistic) |  | 
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Global Aquaculture production for
Penaeus merguiensis
(FAO Fishery Statistic) |  | |
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The species is commercially of major importance in the Persian Gulf and in Pakistan (Longhurst, 1970:280,281; Tirmizi, in Litt.). In India this species has often been confused with Penaeus indicus so that its present economic status is not quite accurately known, but Jones (1967: 1333) pointed out that it definitely contributes to the commercial fishery along the Karwar coast of W. India. Kurian & Sebastian (1976:100) reported that there is a small fishery for this species "in the middle region of east and west coasts" of India, while "juveniles are fished from estuaries". it is not mentioned for Bangladesh by Ahmad (1957), so that it is possible that a confusion with P. indicus has occurred here also. P. merguiensis is also important off the northwestern coast of Malaya, and possibly the west coast of Thailand, and the Philippines (Longhurst, 1970:284-290). In Indonesia it is taken by trawlers off E. Sumatra, the south coast of Java, off Borneo and in the Arafura Sea, being the dominant species there. In Australia it is the most important commercial species of Queensland, and also in Western Australia it may become very important (Racek, 1955:222; 1957:12). In the Gulf of Papua it is trawled for;
the catch is frozen.It plays a role in pond culture in Thailand (Shigueno, 1975:120) and in Indonesia. The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 78 743 t. The countries with the largest catches were Indonesia (65 230 t) and Thailand (9 200 t).
| |  Related Fishing Techniques |
| Local Names | | | Pakistan :
Jaira ,
Jiaro (used also for other species of Fenneropenaeus). |
| Malaysia :
Udang kaki merah . |
| Indonesia :
Udang putih . |
| Thailand :
Kung chaebauy . |
| Hong Kong :
Pak ha ,
White prawn . |
| Australia :
Banana prawn ,
White prawn . |
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Bibliography Kirkegaard, Tuma & Walker, 1970 |
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsfor a world without hunger
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