iv Genus Metapenaeus Wood-Mason & Alcock 1981

Abstract

Species belonging to this genus are distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region. In a recent revision of the genus Racek & Dall (1965) raised the number of determinable species included in the genus to 22. Since then 2 more new species have been described from Indian waters, raising the number to 24. Of these, 10 species have been recorded to occur in Indian waters. They are Metapenaeus dobsoni (Miers), M. monoceros (Fabricius), M. affinis (M. Edwards), M. brevicornis (M. Edwards), M. ensis (De Haan), M. Iysianassa (de Man), M. burkenroadi Kubo, M. stebbingi (Nobili), M. kutchensis George et al., and M. alcocki George and Rao. Among these, those species which are commercially important are dealt with in detail below with reference to their biology and fishery.