https://doi.org/10.4081/nhs.2025.841
Demographic explosion of the brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives 1891 (Decapoda: Penaeidae) in the central and northern Adriatic: implications for ecosystems and fisheries
Submitted: 5 November 2024
Accepted: 5 February 2025
Published: 14 February 2025
Accepted: 5 February 2025
Abstract Views: 516
PDF: 58
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Penaeus aztecus Ives 1891 is an invasive species of western Atlantic origin that has become established in different areas of the Mediterranean Sea. This study highlights a recent demographic explosion of this alien species in the Adriatic Sea. A considerable number of individuals (more than 20 per fishing vessel out of a total of 36 surveyed) were captured by trawling at San Benedetto del Tronto on 30 September 2024, the first fishing day following a 30-day fishing moratorium. Additional unusually high catches in other areas of the central and northern Italian Adriatic Sea occurred in the same period, further confirming a clear recent population surge of this species in the Adriatic. Our results suggest a rapidly growing population in this region of the Mediterranean. We discuss the possible causes of this sudden population increase, as well as the ecological and socio-economic impacts that the species may have on the region in the coming years.
Abdulrraziq, A.A., Abdulghani, A., Ibrahim, S.M., Zava, B., Deidun, A., 2021 - First record of the northern brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeidae) from Libyan waters. BioInvasions Records, 10(2): 287–294.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2021.10.2.06
Al Mabruk, S.A.A., Zava, B., Abdulghani, A., Corsini-Foka, M., Deidun, A., 2021 - The first record of the pharaoh cardinal fish, Apogonichthyoides pharaonis (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Apogonidae), from Libyan waters. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 51(1): 113-118.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/aiep.51.63504
Azzuro, E., Tiralongo, F., 2020 - First record of the mottled spinefoot Siganus fuscescens (Houttuyn, 1782) in Mediterranean waters: a Facebook based detection. Mediterranean Marine Science, 21(2): 448-451.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.22853
Bakır, K., Aydın, I., 2016 - New localities in the Aegean Sea for alien shrimps Penaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) and Metapenaeus affinis (H. Milne Edwards, 1837). Acta Adriatica, 57(2): 273–280.
Ben Jarray, F., Marouani, S., Karaa, S., Hentati, Z., Jarboui, O. 2019 - First record of the brown
shrimp Penaeus aztecus (Decapoda: Penaeidae) in the Gulf of Gabes (Central Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia). Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 60: 425–430.
Bilecenoglu, M., Alfaya, J.E.F., Azzurro, E., Baldacconi, R., Boyaci, Y.O., Circosta, V., Compagno, L.J.V., Coppola F., Deidun, A., Durgham, H., Durucan, F., Ergüden, D., Fernández-Álvarez, F.Á., Gianguzza, P., Giglio, G., Gökoğlu, M. , Gürlek, M. , Ikhtiyar, S. , Kabasakal, H., Karachle, P.K., Katsanevakis, S., Koutsogiannopoulos, D., Lanfranco, E., Micarelli, P., Özvarol, Y., Pena-Rivas, L., Poursanidis, D., Saliba, J., Sperone, E., Tibullo, D., Tiralongo, F., Tripepi, S., Turan, C., Vella, P., Yokes, M.B., Zava, B., 2013 - New Mediterranean Marine Biodiversity Records (December, 2013). Mediterranean Marine Science, 14: 463–480.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.676
Crocetta, F., Agius, D., Balistreri, P., Bariche, M., Bayhan, Y.K., Çakir, M., Ciriaco, S., Corsini-Foka, M., Deidun, A., El Zrelli, R., Erguden, D., Evans, J., Ghelia, M., Giavasi, M., Kleitou, P., Kondylatos, G., Lipej, L., Mifsud, C., Ozvarol, Y., Pagano, A., Portelli, P., Pousanidis, P., Rabaoui, L., Schembri, P.J., Taskin, E., Tiralongo, F., Zenetos, A., 2015 - New Mediterranean biodiversity records (October 2015). Mediterranean Marine Science, 16: 682–702.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.1477
Cruscanti, M., Innocenti, G., Alvarado Bremer, J., Galil, B.S., 2015 - First report of the brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeidae) in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Marine Biodiversity Records, 8: e81.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755267215000664
Deval, M.C., Kaya, Y., Güven, O., Gökoğlu, M., Froglia, C., 2010 - An unexpected find of the western Atlantic shrimp, Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) (Decapoda, Penaeidae) in Antalya Bay, eastern Mediterranean Sea. Crustaceana, 83: 1531–1537.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/001121610X538859
El-Deeb, R.S., Sarhan, M., Khafage, A.R., Abdel Razek, F.A., Abdel-Wahab, M., Omar, H.A., 2020 - Occurrence of Penaeus aztecus, Ives, 1891 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae) in the coastal water of Alexandria, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, 46: 303–309.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.004
Falsone, F., Scannella, D., Geraci, M.L., Vitale, S., Sardo, G., Fiorentino, F., 2020. Further records of Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun, 1896) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae) in the Strait of Sicily. Marine Biodiversity Records, 13: 8.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41200-020-00190-5
Froglia, C., Scanu, M., 2023 - Notes on the Spreading of Penaeus aztecus Ives 1891 (Decapoda, Penaeidae) in the Mediterranean Sea and on Its Repeated Misidentifications in the Region. Biology, 12: 793.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12060793
Galil, B.S., Innocenti, G., Douek, J., Paz, G., Rinkevich, B., 2017 - Foul play? On the rapid spread of the brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeidae) in the Mediterranean, with new records from the Gulf of Lion and the southern Levant. Marine Biodiversity, 47: 979-985.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0518-x
Gönülal, O., Türetken, P.S.Ç., 2019 - One of the most invasive alien species, Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 reached the Black Sea coasts. BioInvasions Records, 8(4): 871–875.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2019.8.4.15
Kampouris, T.E., Tiralongo, F., Golemaj, A., Giovos, I., Doumpas, N., Batjakas, I.E., 2018 - Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Decapoda, Dendrobranchiata, Penaeidae): On the range expansion in Sicilian waters and on the first record from Albanian coast. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies, 6(4): 468–471.
Kapiris, K., Minos, G., 2017 - Weight-length relationship of the northern brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Decapoda: Penaeidae) from the Central Aegean Sea, Greece. Mediterranean Marine Science, 18(3): 562–563.
Kapiris, K., Apostolidis, C., Baldacconi, R., Basusta, N., Bilecenoglu, M., Bitar, G., Bobori, D., Boyaci, Y., Dimitriadis, C., Djurovic, M., Dulcic, J., Duruacan, F., Gerovasileiou, V., Gokoglu, M., Koutsoubas, D., Lefkaditou, E., Lipej, L., Markovic, O., Mavric, B., Ozvarol, Y., Pesic, V., Petriki, O., Siapatis, A., Sini, M., Tibullo, D., Tiralongo, F., 2014 - New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (April, 2014). Mediterranean Marine Science, 15: 198–212.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.737
Kevrekidis, K., 2014 - The occurrence of the Atlantic penaeid prawn Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) in the Thermaikos Gulf (Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean): considerations on the potential establishment and impact on the autochthonous Melicertus kerathurus (Forskal, 1775). Crustaceana, 87: 1606–1619.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685403-00003387
Kondylatos, G., Corsini-Foka, M., 2015 - First record of Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Crustacea, Decapoda) and Melibe viridis (Kelaart, 1858) (Gastropoda, Nudibranchia) in the South- Eastern Aegean Sea (Greece). Mediterranean Marine Science, 16(1): 278–279.
Kondylatos, G., Crocetta, F., Corsini-Foka, M., Froglia, C., 2020 - Crustacea Decapoda from the Rhodes Island area (eastern Mediterranean): new records and an updated checklist. Diversity, 12: 246.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/d12060246
Jaziri, H., Khoufi, W., Meriem, S.B. 2015 - Assessment approach of Melicertus kerathurus stock along the North-Eastern Tunisian coast using a surplus production model incorporating temperature parameter. American Journal of Climate Change, 4: 417–430.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ajcc.2015.45034
Marchessaux, G., Mangano, M.C., Bizzarri, S., M’Rabet, C., Principato, E., Lago, N., Veyssiere, D., Garrido, M., Scyphers, S.B., Sarà, G. 2023 – Invasive blue crabs and small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea: Local ecological knowledge, impacts and future management. Marine Policy, 148: 105461.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105461
Marković, O., Gökoğlu, M., Petović, S., Mandić, M., 2014 - First record of the Northern brown shrimp, Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae) in the South Adriatic Sea, Montenegro. Mediterranean Marine Science, 15: 165–167.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.673
Minos, G., Kokokiris, L., Imsiridou, A., Karachle, P., Kapiris, K., 2015 - Notes on the distribution and biology of northern brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 39: 1–7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3906/zoo-1403-19
Mytilineou, C., Akel, E., Babali, N., Balistreri, P., Bariche, M., Boyaci, Y., Cilenti, L., Constantinou, C., Crocetta, F., Çelik, M., Dereli, H., Dounas, C., Durucan, F., Garrido, A., Gerovasileiou, V., Kapiris, K., Kebapcioglu, T., Kleitou, P., Krystalas, A., Lipej, L., Maina, I., Marakis, P., Mavrič, B., Moussa, R., Peña-Rivas, L., Poursanidis, D., Renda, W., Rizkalla, S., Rosso, A., Scirocco, T., Sciuto, F., Servello, G., Tiralongo, F., Yapici, S., Zenetos, A., 2016 - New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (November, 2016). Mediterranean Marine Science, 17: 794–821.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.1976
Nikolopoulou, I., Baxevanis, A.D., Kampouris, T.E., Abatzopoulos, T.J., 2013 - Farfantepenaeus
aztecus (Ives, 1891) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae) in Ν Aegean: first record in Greece by morphological and genetic features. Journal of Biological Research, 20: 367–375.
Osca, D., Tanduo, V., Tiralongo, F., Giovos, I., Almabruk, S.A., Crocetta, F., Rizgalla, J., 2020 - The Indo-Pacific Sergeant Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) (Perciformes: Pomacentridae) in Libya, South-Central Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 8: 14.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8010014
Özcan, T., Ateş, A.S., Özcan, G., 2019 - The Distribution of the Alien Species Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Decapoda, Penaeidae) in the Mediterranean Sea. Transylvanian Review of Systematical and Ecological Research, 21: 41–48.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/trser-2019-0011
Pérez-Farfante, I., 1988 - Illustrated key to Penaeoid Shrimps of commerce in the Americas. NOAA Technical Report, NMFS, 64: 32 pp.
Pérez-Farfante, I., Kensley, B., 1997 - Penaeoid and sergestoid shrimps and prawns of the world. Keys and diagnoses for the families and genera. Editions du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris: 233 pp.
Perzia, P., Spinelli, A., Interdonato, F., Castriota, L., 2022 - Ecological indicators from spatial statistics to describe the Atlantic fangtooth moray distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. Transactions in GIS, 26(7): 2802-2817.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12981
Sadek S., Abou El-Soud, W., Galil, B.S., 2018 - The brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891
(Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeidae) in the Nile Delta, Egypt: an exploitable resource for fishery and mariculture. BioInvasions Records, 7: 51–54.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2018.7.1.07
Santos-Bethencourt, R., Rotllant, G., Abelló, P., 2023 – The brown shrimp, Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891, reaches the Iberian Peninsula Mediterranean coasts. BioInvasions Records, 12: 1015–1023.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2023.12.4.14
Scannella, D., Falsone, F., Geraci, M.L., Froglia, C., Fiorentino, F., Giusto, G.B., Zava, B., Insacco, G., Colloca, F., 2017 - First report of the northern brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 in Strait of Sicily. BioInvasions Records, 6: 67–72.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2017.6.1.11
Spinelli, A., Sendín Baquero, P., Tiralongo, F., 2024 – Westward expansion of the brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives 1891 (Decapoda: Penaeidae) in the Mediterranean Sea: a review on the Mediterranean distribution and first record from Spain. Natural History Sciences, 11: 65–70.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/nhs.2023.711
Stern, N., Baddreddine, A., Bitar, G., Crocetta, F., Deidun, A., Dragičević, B., Dulčić, J., Durgham, H., Galil, B., Galiya, M., Ikhtiyar, S., Izquiredo-Muñoz, A., Kassar, A., Lombardo, A., Lubinevsky, H., Masalles, D., Othman, R., Oussellam, M., Pešić, V., Pipitone, C., Ramos-Esplá, A., Rilov, G., Rothman, S., Selfati, M., Tiralongo, F., Türker, A., Ugarković, P., Yapici, S., Zava, B., 2019 - New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records. July 2019. Mediterranean Marine Science, 20: 409–426.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.20602
Tavares, M., 2002 - Shrimps. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic, vol. 1 Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes and chimaeras. In: Carpenter KE (ed), FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Special Publication, No. 5. FAO, Rome, pp 251–259.
Tiralongo, F., Lillo, A.O., Tibullo, D., Tondo, E., Lo Martire, C., D’Agnese, R., Macali, A., Mancini, E., Giovos, I., Coco, S., Azzurro, E., 2019 - Monitoring uncommon and non-indigenous fishes in Italian waters: One year of results for the AlienFish project. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 28: 100606.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2019.100606
Tiralongo, F., Crocetta, F., Riginella, E., Lillo, A.O., Tondo, E., Macali, A., Mancini, E., Russo, F., Coco, S., Paolillo, G., Azzurro, E., 2020 - Snapshot of rare, exotic and overlooked fish species in the Italian seas: A citizen science survey. Journal of Sea Research, 164: 101930.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2020.101930
Tiralongo, F., Villani, G., Arciprete, R., Mancini, E., 2021 - Filling the gap on Italian records of an invasive species: first records of the Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae), in Latium and Campania (Tyrrhenian Sea). Acta Adriatica, 62(1): 99-104.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32582/aa.62.1.8
Ugarković, P., Crocetta, F., 2021 - The brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae) spreading northern in the Adriatic Sea: a first record from Croatia. BioInvasions Records, 10(3): 636–643.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2021.10.3.14
Williams, A.B., 1984 - Shrimps, lobsters, and crabs of the Atlantic coast of the Eastern United
States, Maine to Florida. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC: 550 pp.
Zava, B., Insacco, G., Galil, B.S., 2018 - The first record of the brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 in the central Adriatic coast of Italy. BioInvasions Records, 7: 293–296.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2018.7.3.10
Zenetos, A., Çinar, M.E., Crocetta, F., Golani, D., Rosso, A., Servello, G., Shenkar, N., Turon, X., Verlaque, M., 2017 - Uncertainties and validation of alien species catalogues: the Mediterranean as an example. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 191: 171–187.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2017.03.031
How to Cite
Tiralongo, F., Zad, H. N., & Felici, A. (2025). Demographic explosion of the brown shrimp <i>Penaeus aztecus</i> Ives 1891 (Decapoda: Penaeidae) in the central and northern Adriatic: implications for ecosystems and fisheries. Natural History Sciences. https://doi.org/10.4081/nhs.2025.841
Copyright (c) 2025 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Paul Smith, Sergio D. Ríos, Status and distribution of Paraguayan Procyonidae and Mephitidae (Mammalia: Carnivora) , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 11 No. 1 (2024)
- Luigi Cagnolaro, Michela Podestà, Marco Affronte, Paolo Agnelli, Fabrizio Cancelli, Ernesto Capanna, Rossella Carlini, Giorgio Cataldini, Bruno Cozzi, Gianni Insacco, Nicola Maio, Letizia Marsili, Paola Nicolosi, Vincenzo Olivieri, Roberto Poggi, Tommaso Renieri, Maurizio Wurtz, Collections of extant cetaceans in Italian museums and other scientific institutions. A comparative review , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 153 No. 2 (2012)
- Davide Federico Bertè, Remarks on the skull morphology of Canis lupaster Hemprich and Herenberg, 1832 from the collection of the Natural History Museum “G. Doria” of Genoa, Italy , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 4 No. 1 (2017)
- Gabriel Lio, Federico Agnolin, Andrea Cau, Simone Maganuco, Crocodyliform affinities for Kemkemia auditorei Cau & Maganuco, 2009 from the Late Cretaceous of Morocco , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 153 No. 1 (2012)
- Giovanni Pasini, Alessandro Garassino, Critical review of fossil record of Ranina Lamarck, 1801 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Raninidae), with description of Tethyranina n. gen. , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 5 No. 2 (2018)
- Lorenza Piretta, Giovanni Soldato, Giacomo Assandri, Three new species for the odonatofauna of Piedmont (NW Italy) , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 11 No. 2 (2024)
- Daniele Paganelli, Alessandra Pandolfi, Renato Sconfietti, First record of eyeless specimens of Gammarus roeselii Gervais 1835 (Amphioda, Gammaridae) in a small stream of the sub-lacustrine Ticino River basin (Lombardy, Northern Italy) , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 4 No. 1 (2017)
- Salvatore Pasta, Emilio Badalamenti, Found but lost? The short-lived success of Crataegus coccinea L. (Rosales: Rosaceae) in north-eastern Sicily (Italy) , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 11 No. 2 (2024)
- Enrico Schifani, Sándor Csősz, Roberto Viviano, Antonio Alicata, Ant diversity on the largest Mediterranean islands: on the presence or absence of 28 species in Sicily (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 8 No. 1 (2021)
- Francesco Tiralongo, A new record of the rare Hypleurochilus bananensis (Poll 1959) (Actinopterygii: Blenniidae) with a review of its distribution and ecology in Italian seas , Natural History Sciences: Vol. 11 No. 1 (2024)
<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
