Family: Penaeidae

Size: The banana prawn reaches 240 mm (9.5 inches)

Distribution:
This widely distributed and important Indo-West Pacific species lives in shallow water between 10 and 45 meters (30 to 150 feet) on muddy bottoms. Juveniles are estuarine, adults mostly marine. The species ranges from the Arabian Gulf and Pakistan through the Malay Archipelago and South China Sea to Australia, where it is found from Western Australia´s Shark Bay all the way around the north coast to northern New South Wales.

Comments:
Commercially, this is one of the most important species of this large region. Similar to P. indicus, the Indian white and for commercial purposes effectively a white shrimp, the banana prawn is most important in Australia , especially in Queensland and increasingly important in Western Australia. It is the main species raised in pond culture in Thailand and is an important catch in Malaya and the Philippines. Indonesian production was over 66 million pounds in 1980, before a trawling ban took effect.
This is a good quality shrimp with firm meat and a fine flavor. Japan imports peeled, higher count banana prawns in large quantities.