Family: Penaeidae Size: Green tigers grow to about 228 mm (nearly 9 inches)

Distribution:
The species is caught in trawls on sandy or muddy bottoms in depths down to 130 meters (426 feet). The juveniles are estuarine and the adults marine. It is found in many and widespread areas of the Indo-West Pacific, from East and Southeast Africa into the Red Sea, around the Indian subcontinent, through the Malay archipelago to Japan and Northern Australia. In recent years it has extended its range from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal into the eastern Mediterranean, where it is now fairly common.

Comments:
This is very important commercial species, often known as flower shrimp when sold from Taiwan and other Asian origins. It is fished in the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean as well as along the east coast of Africa. It is particularly important in Pakistan, which exports both frozen and canned green tigers in large quantities and where it is also used for making shrimp meal and shrimp paste. It is utilized to some small degree on the east coast of India and is sometimes found in rice field farming in the Ganges delta. It is commercially important also in Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan. It is fished all year in Northern Australia, where it is not distinguished from P. esculentus, the brown tiger in catches or in marketing.
In Taiwan and in Thailand the green tiger is used successfully in aquaculture. This is a strongly marked shrimp, with noticeable transverse bands which fade after capture. It looks very similar to P. monodon the giant tiger prawn. The meat is firm and fairly mild.