Pandalus platyceros

Pandalus platyceros
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Caridea
Family: Pandalidae
Genus: Pandalus
Species:
P. platyceros
Binomial name
Pandalus platyceros
Brandt, 1851[1]

Pandalus platyceros, also called California spot prawn (as well as Santa Barbara spot prawn and Monterey Bay spot prawn[2]) or Alaskan prawn, is a shrimp of the genus Pandalus.[1]

Spot shrimp are a large shrimp found in the North Pacific. They range from the clean waters off Unalaska Island, Alaska, to San Diego. The commercial spot prawn fishery along the British Columbia coast is considered sustainable[3] as they "occur in sufficient numbers to support several small commercial and recreational fisheries"[4] and provides the largest landed value to the BC shrimp fishery.

Distribution

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Pandalus platyceros are found throughout the marine waters of the North Pacific Ocean.[5] While found living from 3.7 meters to 457.2 meters, spot shrimp are most often found around 109.7 meters below sea level.[6]

Description

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Spot prawn reach up to 27 centimeters in length, with females often longer than their male counterparts. Spot shrimp have a translucent, reddish carapace with white stripes and pereopods and antennae which are banded dark and light red.[7] Their first and fifth abdominal segments have white spots.[6] They are protandric hermaphrodites, meaning they first turn into males, with their appendix masculina lengthening while maturing and then gradually shortening until they turn into females.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pandalus platyceros". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. ^ Parsons, Russ (June 4, 2008). "Spot prawns are a West Coast treasure". Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  3. ^ "Wild Spot Prawn Sustainability", retrieved 24 May 2021
  4. ^ Underwater World - Selected Shrimps of British Columbia, retrieved 29 May 2009
  5. ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Pandalus platyceros Brandt, 1851". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  6. ^ a b "Spot Shrimp Species Profile, Alaska Department of Fish and Game". www.adfg.alaska.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  7. ^ "Spot Prawn". California Sea Grant. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  8. ^ "The protandric life history of the Northern spot shrimp Pandalus platyceros: molecular insights and implications for fishery management", retrieved November 13, 2021