EN العربية
HUWAT KSAFISH Fishes of Saudi Arabia Red Sea and Arabian Gulf An initiative of the HUWAT ecosystem
Family: PENAEIDAE Species index Families Compare with another species

HWT-SHRIMP-0002

speckled shrimp

Metapenaeus monoceros

(Fabricius, 1798)

Metapenaeus monoceros, specimen MNHN-IU-2010-2578 (identified by T. Y. Chan). A preserved specimen of the National Museum of Natural History, Paris (MNHN), so its colours are not those of the living animal. The photograph is not evidence of occurrence in Saudi waters.
Metapenaeus monoceros, specimen MNHN-IU-2010-2578 (identified by T. Y. Chan). A preserved specimen of the National Museum of Natural History, Paris (MNHN), so its colours are not those of the living animal. The photograph is not evidence of occurrence in Saudi waters. © Chan T. Y. & Lin C. W.; MNHN, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Species PENAEIDAE Shrimp accepted scientific name

Quick facts

Saudi context in this record

Occurrence records

The encyclopedia holds no published occurrence record for this taxon in Saudi waters yet.

Measurements and characters

Size at first maturity Saudi territorial waters, Red Sea

21.12 mm

females, 95 percent interval 20.91 to 21.29; period: October 2022 to September 2023; where: Jizan and Al Qunfudhah

Life History Traits and Fishery Dynamics of Speckled Shrimp, Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798), Along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Coast Results 3.3 (95% CI 20.91–21.29 mm) confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Codend mesh size Saudi territorial waters, Red Sea

40 mm

diamond mesh, against a regulated minimum of 38 mm; period: October 2022 to September 2023; where: Jizan and Al Qunfudhah

Life History Traits and Fishery Dynamics of Speckled Shrimp, Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798), Along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Coast Methods 2.1–2.2 (38 mm regulated minimum) confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Distribution Saudi territorial waters, Red Sea

Metapenaeus monoceros is the second most abundant commercially important shrimp species caught along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast … fishery-independent samples collected from shrimp trawling grounds off Al Qunfudhah and Jizan (October 2022–September 2023). Altogether, 10,859 specimens were examined.

Life History Traits and Fishery Dynamics of Speckled Shrimp, Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798), Along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Coast Abstract confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Morphology

According to the FAO identification sheet (western Indian Ocean, 1983): almost the entire body is pubescent (in East Africa, except the Red Sea, the pubescence is restricted to the dorsal part of the carapace and abdominal patches); rostrum with 9 to 12 teeth along the entire dorsal margin, straight, reaching as far as or beyond the tip of the antennular peduncle; telson armed only with spinules; a small ischial spine on the first pereopod. Colour: body pink, green-greyish or whitish with brown specks; antennae red. A description for the western Indian Ocean (FAO Area 51), not a Saudi study.

FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes: Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51), Penaeidae sheets Metapenaeus monoceros sheet: distinctive characters confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Habitat and distribution

According to the FAO sheet (1983): usually found from the coast to about 70 m (fished down to 170 m in an exploratory survey off Pakistan), mainly on mud, sandy-mud or silt; juveniles live in estuaries and backwaters or close to the shore. A description for the western Indian Ocean (FAO Area 51), not a Saudi study.

FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes: Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51), Penaeidae sheets Metapenaeus monoceros sheet: geographical distribution and behaviour confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

General description

Maximum total length (TL) printed by the FAO sheet (1983): males 15 cm, females 20 cm. It is a maximum recorded total length, not a common size and not a measurement made in Saudi waters; the Saudi measurements on this page are carapace lengths and are shown separately.

FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes: Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51), Penaeidae sheets Metapenaeus monoceros sheet: size confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Distribution

According to the FAO sheet (1983): occurs throughout the area from South Africa to south India, including the Red Sea, Madagascar, Mauritius, La Réunion and Sri Lanka, but is “absent from the Gulf”; further east as far as the Malay Peninsula; it has entered the eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. A regional statement; no range on the Saudi Gulf coast is attributed to the species.

FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes: Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51), Penaeidae sheets Metapenaeus monoceros sheet: geographical distribution confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Study sample count Saudi territorial waters, Red Sea

10859

10,859 individuals of this species among the 103,758 shrimp (six species) counted in one trawl-catch study sample, counted by number. Sampled monthly from October 2022 to September 2023 off the ports of Jizan and Al Qunfudhah (108 hauls off each), by chartered industrial shrimp trawlers registered in the two ports; the catch was sorted on board and taken on ice to the laboratory. Gear: 40 mm diamond-mesh codend, night trawling, hauls of about three hours at around three knots, at depths of 10 to 40 m off Jizan and 10 to 30 m off Al Qunfudhah. The trawling grounds are predominantly sandy bottoms with scattered muddy patches (a description of the study grounds, given as context and not as a fact about the species). This value is a figure of that one sample: it is not population abundance, Saudi abundance, stock abundance, national prevalence, distribution, production or commercial importance.

Linking Biological Parameters to Fishery Management: Stock Assessment of Green Tiger Prawn, Penaeus semisulcatus De Haan, 1844 Along the Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia Results 3.1 (species composition, n = 103,758 individuals, shares by number) confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified

Share of the study sample Saudi territorial waters, Red Sea

10 %

10% of the 103,758 shrimp (six species) counted in one trawl-catch study sample, by number of individuals. Sampled monthly from October 2022 to September 2023 off the ports of Jizan and Al Qunfudhah (108 hauls off each), by chartered industrial shrimp trawlers registered in the two ports; the catch was sorted on board and taken on ice to the laboratory. Gear: 40 mm diamond-mesh codend, night trawling, hauls of about three hours at around three knots, at depths of 10 to 40 m off Jizan and 10 to 30 m off Al Qunfudhah. The trawling grounds are predominantly sandy bottoms with scattered muddy patches (a description of the study grounds, given as context and not as a fact about the species). This value is a figure of that one sample: it is not population abundance, Saudi abundance, stock abundance, national prevalence, distribution, production or commercial importance.

Linking Biological Parameters to Fishery Management: Stock Assessment of Green Tiger Prawn, Penaeus semisulcatus De Haan, 1844 Along the Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia Results 3.1 (species composition, n = 103,758 individuals, shares by number) confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified

Names

English common names

speckled shrimp

Local names — Global

  • إيربيان مُرقَّشة Common Arabic name draft

Classification

MetapenaeusGenus PENAEIDAEFamily DecapodaOrder MalacostracaClass ArthropodaPhylum AnimaliaKingdom

External identifiers
  • WoRMS AphiaID: 107107 — World Register of Marine Species

Conservation

No governed conservation assessment is published for this taxon. The absence of a published assessment is not an assessment of low concern.

Distribution

The encyclopedia holds no published scientific distribution records for this taxon. The distribution statements among the facts above are quoted from the sources cited beside them; they are not distribution records.

This section shows source-backed scientific distribution only. Community observations are not listed here and no scientific distribution is inferred from them.

Fishing and seasons

The shrimp fishing seasons and bans published in the encyclopedia belong to the fishery (wild-caught marine shrimp on a given coast in a given year); they are not a biological property of this species and not its spawning season. Find them with their area, year and source on the shrimp page. The season tables →

Others in this family

Taxa of the same family. That is a taxonomic relationship, not a statement of resemblance; the encyclopedia holds no diagnostic characters or lookalike relations yet.

Information not yet documented in this record

These fields exist in the encyclopedia’s model and have not been imported for this taxon yet. Their absence describes the record, not the animal.

Scientific sources

Linking Biological Parameters to Fishery Management: Stock Assessment of Green Tiger Prawn, Penaeus semisulcatus De Haan, 1844 Along the Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia (2025). DOI 10.3390/biology15010008
Life History Traits and Fishery Dynamics of Speckled Shrimp, Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798), Along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Coast (2025). DOI 10.3390/biology14040406
World Register of Marine Species (2026). DOI 10.14284/170
ASFIS List of Species for Fishery Statistics Purposes, 2026 edition (2026).
FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes: Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51), Penaeidae sheets (1983).
The scientific sources above are the ones cited for the facts, names and identifiers on this page. The platform and founder attribution in the footer is not a scientific source. Community contributions appear with their names and review status. The verification shown beside a value means the register checked the value against its cited source; it is not a scientific approval and not an independent peer review.

Record last modified: 2026-10-16

This record in the public API