THE ANIMAL FILES

Giant tiger prawn

Penaeus monodon

A striped prawn whose address changes as it grows.

Giant tiger prawns have dark bands across the body. Juveniles use estuaries and mangroves, while adults occur in deeper coastal waters and often burrow by day before feeding at night.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Giant tiger prawn
Image: self · Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Natural range
Indo-Pacific waters[1]
Young animals
Estuaries and mangroves[1]
Daily rhythm
Often active at night[1]

Stripes across a segmented body

The carapace and abdomen carry alternating transverse bands. Females tend to be larger than males, so two adults need not match in body size.[1]

Growing up changes the setting

Young giant tiger prawns are generally associated with sandy estuaries and mangroves. Adults move into deeper water and occur on muddy or rocky bottoms.[1]

A night shift on the seabed

In the wild, this prawn can bury into the substrate during the day and emerge at night to feed. Its food includes worms, molluscs, small crustaceans and detritus.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Does the name tell us that it lives only in one coastal habitat?

No. Habitat use changes between juveniles and adults. Estuary or mangrove observations tell a different part of its life story from an adult found on a deeper muddy seabed.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Would a daytime survey necessarily show all the local prawns?

Reveal the explanation

Not necessarily. Animals buried in the substrate can be overlooked, and this species often feeds at night. Observation timing affects what is seen; a quiet daytime scene is not itself evidence that the habitat is unused.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Giant tiger prawn (fixed revision; adapted and translated)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Penaeus monodon (identity and classification)

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

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