A Systematic Study on Prawns (Crustacea: Decapoda:Caridea: Palaemonidea: Palaemonidae) in Riverine System of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal

Abstract

The source of prawns are marine , fresh & brackish water bodies of tropical countries of the world . Present study deals with the fresh water prawns of rivers traversing through Paschim Medinipur. Family Palaemonidae is represented by 7 genera and 82 species  (Holthuis, 1980) of which 4 genera namely Exopalaemon, Leptocarpus,Macrobrachium and Nematopalaemon are found in Indian water. Among these Exopalaemon and Macrobrachium are found in the major riverine system (Kansaboti, Subarnarekha, Silaboti , & Kaliaghai) of Paschim Medinipur district. Exopalaemon represents only one species, E. styliferus (H. Milne Edwards, 1840)

and Macrobrachium represents 5 species namely M. idea (Heller, 1862). M. javanicum (Heller, 1862), M. malcolmsonii (H. Milne Edwards, 1844), M. rosenbergii (de Man, 1879) & M. rude (Heller, 1862).