HWT-SHRIMP-0009

Penaeus latisulcatus

Kishinouye, 1896

The encyclopedia holds no English common name for this taxon.

Penaeus latisulcatus (formerly Melicertus latisulcatus), specimen J 44686-2 of Museums Victoria, a female bought at the Victoria Market, Melbourne (Australia). The photograph is small (617 x 500). The photograph is not evidence of occurrence in Saudi waters.
Penaeus latisulcatus (formerly Melicertus latisulcatus), specimen J 44686-2 of Museums Victoria, a female bought at the Victoria Market, Melbourne (Australia). The photograph is small (617 x 500). The photograph is not evidence of occurrence in Saudi waters. © Museums Victoria, 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.

No local name is recorded for it in a Saudi scope either.

Measurements and characters

Distribution Saudi territorial waters, Arabian Gulf

Saudi Arabian Gulf coast: preserved specimens held by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) and published through GBIF, among them Safaniya (north of Safaniya Hill) (1982), Jurayd Island (north-east end) (1981), Abu Ali Island (1971). The GBIF records give Isabel Pérez Farfante as the determiner. Museum specimen records: not an estimate of abundance and not a statement about the species today.

GBIF occurrence 1322872448: Penaeus latisulcatus, Safaniya (north of Safaniya Hill), 1982, specimen of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) Occurrence record confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

GBIF occurrence 1320675680: Penaeus latisulcatus, Jurayd Island (north-east end), 1981, specimen of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) Occurrence record confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

GBIF occurrence 1321434149: Penaeus latisulcatus, Abu Ali Island, 1971, specimen of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) Occurrence record 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): carapace smooth; rostrum with 9 to 12 teeth on the dorsal margin and a single tooth on the ventral margin; gastrofrontal crest present; telson armed with 3 pairs of movable spines; no ischial spine on the first pereopod. Colour: body pale yellow to brown; dorsal crests dark brown; the pleura of the first 5 abdominal segments each with a short vertical red or brown stripe. 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 Penaeus (Melicertus) latisulcatus 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): found from the coastline to depths of about 80 m, occasionally deeper, on sand or mud, with a clear preference in many localities for sandy substrates; nocturnal, burying in the seabed in daytime and emerging at night to feed. 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 Penaeus (Melicertus) latisulcatus sheet: geographical distribution and behaviour 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): within the area from south-east Africa to the Gulf of Oman and the “Gulf”, the Red Sea, Madagascar, Mauritius, La Réunion and Seychelles; also the southern coast of India and Sri Lanka; further east from Burma to Korea and Japan, New Guinea, Australia and Fiji. A regional statement; the Saudi Gulf record of the species is the specimens named above.

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

Identity and names

WoRMS records the name Penaeus latisulcatus Kishinouye, 1896 as a “superseded combination”, its accepted name being Penaeus (Oleopenaeus) latisulcatus; the encyclopedia keeps the genus Penaeus as it does for its other species. Penaeus hathor is a separate accepted species that was originally described as a subspecies of P. latisulcatus.

World Register of Marine Species AphiaRecordsByName, retrieved 17 October 2026 confidence: scientifically documented verification: verified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Names

The encyclopedia holds no common names for this taxon.

Classification

PenaeusGenus PENAEIDAEFamily DecapodaOrder MalacostracaClass ArthropodaPhylum AnimaliaKingdom

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

World Register of Marine Species (2026). DOI 10.14284/170
FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes: Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51), Penaeidae sheets (1983).
GBIF occurrence 1322872448: Penaeus latisulcatus, Safaniya (north of Safaniya Hill), 1982, specimen of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) (1982).
GBIF occurrence 1320675680: Penaeus latisulcatus, Jurayd Island (north-east end), 1981, specimen of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) (1981).
GBIF occurrence 1321434149: Penaeus latisulcatus, Abu Ali Island, 1971, specimen of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) (1971).
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: 2026-10-17

This record in the public API