42 mm. t.l. in 48 days, or at an average daily rate 

 of 0.36 mm. ; and individuals 75 to 90 mm. t.l. grew 

 10 mm. t.l. in 30 days — an average daily increase 

 of 0.33 mm. 

 SEX DIFFERENCES IN SIZE 



The largest female I examined was 48 mm. c.l., 

 192 mm. t.l., and the largest male 41 mm. c.l., 175 

 mm. t.l., from off Las Piedras, Gulf of Venezuela. 

 Ewald (1965c) reported females 55 mm. c.l. in the 

 lower Gulf of Venezuela. Although the females of 

 P. d. notialis attain a mucli larger size than the 

 males, both increase in length with increasing 

 depth (Perez ^Farfante et al., 1961). 



Ecology 



SUBSTRATE 



"Candied shrimp" live on a variety of bottom 

 types — very soft to firm mud, sand and mud, and 

 predominantly sand patches among rocks. 

 DIEL CYCLE 



Juveniles as well as adults are mostly nocturnal 

 in habit. In Cuba, however, they constitute a small 

 percentage of the commercial cat dies taken during 

 the day. 



The only data available on the behavior of 

 "candied shrimp" in relation to moon phases are 

 statements by fishermen that tliese shrimp become 

 extremely scarce during the full moon. 

 MOVEMENTS 



The sampling by Perez Farfante et al. (1961) 

 in Cuba showed that the young remain in estuarine 

 waters until they are about 85 mm. t.l., at which 

 length they seem to move seaward. In Laguna Doc- 

 tor, Playa de Bara«oa, Cuba, however, larger speci- 

 mens were caught (to 130mm. t.l.) . 

 EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE 



No studies liave been made. 

 ENEMIES AND DISEASES 



Only a few enemies and diseases of "candied 

 shrimp" are known. Undoubtedly, this is because 

 so little attention lias been accorded them. Carniv- 

 orous fishes are probably their most important 

 enemies. They are also victims of their bretliren, 

 particularly the young. "Candied shrimp" suffer 

 an infection that causes them to become opaque 

 white, a malady similar to that found in P. d. 

 dum^arum called "cotton shrimp" or "milk shrimjj" 

 in the United States. This condition is rather com- 

 mon in shrimp from southern Cuba. 



Commercial Importance 



P. d. notialis and P. schmitti are the most im- 

 portant commercial shrimps in the Greater An- 

 tilles and the Caribbean Coast of Central America. 

 It makes up about half of Honduran shrimp 

 catches (the rest consists mostly of P. schmitti and 

 small quantities of P. a. siibtilis) ; as stated earlier, 

 practically the entire production is exported to the 

 United States and in 1965, amounted to 740,270 kg. 

 In Nicaragua, P. d. notialis and P. irasiliensis ac- 

 count for a large percentage of the shrimp taken 

 along the Caribbean Coast ; exjDorts to the United 

 States from eastern Nicaragua in 1964 amomited to 

 1,049,623 kg. (catches by U.S. vessels off' Nicaragua 

 are not included). Most of the rather small catches 

 of grooved shrmips in the Gulf of Venezuela 

 (Ewald, 1965c) consist of P. d. notialis. This 

 shrimp also occurs in the enormous catches made 

 along the northeastern Atlantic Coast of South 

 America, from Guyana to Baia de Marajo, Brazil. 

 Croker (1967) stated that because it is not distin- 

 guished from P. hrasiliensis by the fisherman, it is 

 not possible to say what proportion of the catches 

 it constitutes. Finally, according to Lindner 

 (1957), P. d. notialis is taken commercially along 

 the southernmost portion of its range, from Ilheus 

 to Cabo Frio, Brazil. 



Penaeus (Melicertus) aztecus 

 aztecus IvES 



Figures 39 to 50 



United States: brown shrimp, brownies, green 

 lake shrimp, red shrimp, redtail shrimp, golden 

 shrimp, native shrimp. Mexico: camaron cafe, 

 camaron moreno. 



Penaeus irasiliensis : Gibbes, 1850 : 198 [part] ; 

 Stimpson, 1871 : 132 ; Verrill, Smith, and 

 Harger, 1873: 551; Smith, 1874: 642; Smith, 

 1880: 267; Rathbun, 1884: 821-823 [part]; 

 Herrick, 1887 : 47 ; Ives, 1891 : 199 [part] ; Ever- 

 mami, 1892 : 90 [part] ; Kathbun, 1893 : 821-823 

 [pai-t] ; de Man, 1911 : 96 [part] ; Fowler, 1913 : 

 314-316, 542 ; Cowles, 1930 : 355, 356, 358 [part] ; 

 Weymouth, 1931 : 11 [part] ; Weymouth et al., 

 1932 : 108 [part] ; Weymouth et al., 1933 : 2, 4, 6, 

 8, 12, 21, figs. 3b, 4b; Burkenroad, 1934: 81, 82, 

 89-93, 138, (61, 75, 77, 78, 88, 94, 134 [part]), 

 figs. 8, 9; Johnson and Lindner, 1934: 4, 57 

 [part] ; Myers and Gowanloch, 1934 : 12 [part] ; 

 Lindner, 1936: 155 [fig. 2 middle?]; Pearson, 

 1939: 2, 28, 30-39, 50, 51, 53, 59, 71, 72 [part], 



WESTERN ATLANTIC SHRIMPS OF GENUS PENAEUS 



527 



