Landings of Penaeus vannamei at Kalamukku Fish landing Centre, Kerala

Abstract

Penaeus vannamei Boone, 1931 commonly known as the white legged shrimp was observed along with Penaeus indicus in the landings at Kalamukku fish landing centre Ernakulam,on 15.11.20 18. The catch was from a single day trawler whose depth of operation was 15 m. Distributed along the Pacific coast of Mexico, central and south America up to Peru, the shrimp was introduced in India on a pilot scale for culture in 2003 and later in 2009 large scale production began. However, it was not recorded in the wild capture fisheries for shrimps. In the landings at Kalamukku, the females measured 109 to 146 mm in total length and weighed 8.9 to 26.6 g. The males measured 100 to 145 mm in total length and 7.5 to 24.4 g in weight. Among the sample analysed 51% were P. vannamei and 49% were P. indicus based on numbers. Its appearance in the landings is most likely due to the recent floods in Kerala during August, 2018.