ON THE HETEROCARPUS SHRIMPS (CRUSTACEA : DECAPODA : PANDALIDAE) FROM TAIWAN

Abstract

Four Heterocarpus shrimps are identified from the coastal deep-sea prawn fisheries at depth of 150-400 m off north-east and southern Taiwan. They are H. gibbosus Bate, 1888, H. woodmasoni Alcock, 1901, H. ensifer parvispina De Man 1917 and H. sibogae De Man 1917, the former three are new additions to the marine fauna list of Taiwan. H. gibbosus and H. sibogae have long been used as sea-food and with moderate price although their catches are not large nor stable. This report describes and illustrates these four Taiwanese Heterocarpus species. A key for their identification is provided. The morphological differences between the sexes in these species are also mentioned.