Presence and Phylogenetic Confirmation of the Non-Indigenous Penaeus pulchricaudatus (Decapoda: Penaeidea) Stebbing, 1914 in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

One of the worst invasive species in terms of outspread and impact, kuruma shrimp Penaeus japonicus has spread subsequently in the Mediterranean basin after being misclassified for the first time as P. canaliculatus in Egypt. At the beginning of the 21st century, however, two morphologically or biometrically similar chromatic patterns of P. japonicus have been proven and clarified as two species. They do not differ morphologically, but genetically separate into form I (P. japonicus) and form II (P. pulchricaudatus). In the present study, we detect the presence and phylogenetic confirmation with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences of the non-indigenous P.pulchricaudatus Stebbing, 1914 in the Mediterranean Sea, formerly accepted P. japonicus. This is the first finding in the Turkish Mediterranean waters and the first confirmation in the Mediterranean Sea.