Biodiversity & Conservation

A prawn - Palaemon elegans

Palaemon elegans

Image Jim Anderson - Palaemon elegans crawling on the substratum. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Palaemon elegans recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Palaemon elegans is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods, joint-legged animals, e.g. insects, crustaceans & spiders
Class Malacostraca Crabs, lobsters, sand hoppers and sea slaters
Authority Rathke, 1837
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland All around the coasts of Britain and Ireland
Habitat information icon Habitat information Intertidal on rocky shores in rock pools around mid-tide level but sometimes higher. Moves offshore in winter in northern latitudes.
Text page icon Description Palaemon elegans is a typical prawn with a cylindrical body composed of a carapace at the front and six abdominal segments. It has a short straight rostrum in front of the eyes with distinctive dorsal and ventral teeth. Palaemon elegans is translucent with red/brown lines on the carapace and abdomen. Just below the large compound eye on each side is the antennule, which is divided into to three parts. Below the antennule is the antenna, which is divided into two parts; the short flat segment (the scaphocerite) and the long whip-like flagellum. The first two pairs of walking legs bear claws (chela) and have yellow and red banding.
Identifying features
  • Large round-bodied prawn up to 6.3 cm in length.
  • Translucent with variable markings but generally red/brown horizontal or oblique lines on the carapace and vertical on the abdomen.
  • First two walking legs (pereiopods) chelate with yellow and brown banding.
  • Head region covered by a carapace with a short straight rostrum.
  • Rostrum with 7-9 dorsal teeth, 3 of which are behind the eye socket, and 3 ventral teeth.
  • Mandible with palp of 2 segments (requires microscopic examination).
Additional information icon Additional information Palaemon elegans is very similar to Palaemon serratus, Palaemon longirostris and Palaemon adspersus but can be separated from these species by the number of rostral teeth and the mandibular palp, which is composed of two segments.

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal 2008. Palaemon elegans. A prawn. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4018>