The taxonomy of Penaeus Fabricius, 1798 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae) has been reconstructed.1,2 There has been substantial confusion about their classification over the last few decades3-4 since the genera scheme proposed by Perez Farfante and Kensley was published.5 Based on complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear genes, the phylogenetic relations and genetic differentiation of penaeid shrimps have clearly demonstrated monophyletic status and aptness of single genus nomenclature for shrimp in Penaeus s,l., corroborating findings from phylogenetic analyses in dismissing the six genera nomenclature and favoring reinstating the old genus Penaeus.6-7 The six genera scheme proposed by Perez Farfante and Kensley5 should be overturned and single genus status for Penaeus s.l. be reinstated. Research should continue to confirm taxonomy where both morphological and molecular data are congruent.
In the meantime, let’s use the taxonomy classification of shellfish species following the classification by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS, 2024).2 For Penaeus vannamei Boone, 1931 the species Litopenaeus vannamei (Pérez Farfante & Kensley 1997) is not accepted. The accepted classifications for other Penaeus species are: Penaeus monodon Fabricius, 1798; Penaeus japonicus Spence Bate, 1888; Penaeus chinensis Osbeck, 1765; Penaeus stylirostris Stimpson, 1871; Penaeus setiferus Linnaeus, 1767; Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891; Penaeus duorarum Burkenroad, 1939; Penaeus japonicus Spence Bate, 1888; Penaeus indicus H. Milne Edwards, 1837; and Penaeus merguiensis de Man, 1888 [in de Man, 1887–1888]. Considering there are more than 20 Penaeus species, taxonomy should be confirmed using both whole genome sequencing and morphological tools. Information on other Penaeid shrimps, and marine molluscan species listed in the MolluscaBase database (www.molluscabase.org/) are also displayed in WoRMS.2
References
1Yang C-H, Ma K-Y, Chu K-H, et al. 2023. Making sense of the taxonomy of the most commercially important shrimps Penaeus Fabricius, 1798 s. l. (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae), a way forward, Aquaculture, 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2022.738955, 563, (738955).
2DecaNet eds. 2024. DecaNet. Penaeus Fabricius, 1798. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=106822 on 2024-11-23.
3Flegel, T. W. 2007. The right to refuse revision in the genus Penaeus’. Aquaculture, 264:1–4.
4Figueredo A, Lira C, Vera‐Caripe J, De Donato, M, Lodeiros, C. 2022. The Pacific white shrimp, the most cultivated shrimp species, is it Litopenaeus or Penaeus vannamei?, Reviews in Aquaculture, 15:7-13.
5Pérez Farfante I, Kensley B. 1997. Penaeoid and sergestoid shrimps and prawns of the world. Keys and diagnoses for the families and genera. Mémoires du Muséum National d’Histoire naturelle, Paris 175:1–233.
6Ma KY, Chan TY, Chu KH. 2011. Refuting the six-genus classification of Penaeus s.l. (Dendrobranchiata, Penaeidae): A combined analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Zoologica Scripta 40(5):498–508.
7Katneni, V. K. et al. Phylogenetic relations and mitogenome-wide similarity metrics reveal monophyly of Penaeus sensu lato. 2021. Ecol Evol 11 (5), 2040-2049.