Description: A pandalid shrimp, characterized by a large second abdominal segment which extends over both the first and third segments. The rostrum is very long, aproximately twice the length of the head, with more than 40 dorsal and ventral teeth. It is whitish and semi-transparent, with bright red well-defined stripes. The posterior edge of the third abdominal segment is smooth. Ovigerous females carry blue eggs under their abdomen, with the help of the pleopods.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean; Indo-Pacific. View Map
Reproduction: Ovigerous females observed year-round in Madeira. Spawning season from late summer to late autumn.
Maturity: Females (Madeira):
Size at first maturity: 14.61 mm
Age at first maturity: 1.47 years.
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: SeaLifeBase: 10-900 m, usually 200-400 m.
Habitat: Benthic adults inhabiting mud or muddy sand bottoms, often near rocky areas of the continental slope. Pelagic juveniles.
Feeding habits: It is an active predator that feeds on a wide variety of benthic invertebrates, and also an occasional scavenger.
Trophic level:
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Although not currently exploited in Madeira, it showed a reasonable potential for commercial exploitation in this archipelago at depths up to 250 m. May be captured with semifloating shrimp traps with a mesh size between 15 and 29 mm.
Conservation status: Not evaluated.
Nutritional information & food safety:
REFERENCES
Direcção de Serviços de Investigação e Desenvolvimento da Pesca, Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Kitsos, M. S., Tzomos, T., Anagnostopoulou, L., & Koukouras, A. (2008). Diet composition of the pandalid shrimp, Plesionika narval (Fabricius, 1787) (Decapoda, Pandalidae) in the Aegean Sea. Crustaceana, 81(1): 23-33.
Sousa R., Henriques P., Biscoito M., Pinto A.R., Delgado J., Dellibnger T., Gouveia L., Pinho M.R. (2014). Considerations on the biology of Plesionika narval (Fabricius, 1787) in the Northeastern Atlantic. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 14: 727-737.
