Journal of Marine Science: Research & Development
Open Access

Research Article

Comparative Biology of the Prawns Macrobrachium macrobrachion (Herklots) and Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots) From Two Interconnecting Fresh/Brackish Water Lagoons in South-West Nigeria

Department of Marine Sciences, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos 234, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author:

Aderonke Omolara Lawal-Are
Department of Marine Sciences
University of Lagos, Akoka
Lagos 234, Nigeria
Tel: +2348033020969
E-mail: alawalare@unilag.edu.ng

Received date March 27, 2012; Accepted date May 21, 2012; Published date May 23, 2012

Citation: Lawal-Are AO, Owolabi AT (2012) Comparative Biology of the Prawns Macrobrachium macrobrachion (Herklots) and Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots) From Two Interconnecting Fresh/Brackish Water Lagoons in South- West Nigeria. J Marine Sci Res Dev 2:108. doi: 10.4172/2155-9910.1000108

Copyright: © 2012 Lawal-Are AO, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

The prawns, Macrobrachium species belonging to the family Palaemonidae are decapod crustaceans of high economic importance world-wide and have been subjected to intense aquacultural practices
especially in Asia and the Americas. Macrobrachium rosenbergii is one of the best farmed species in this family. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) gave details of its identification, profile, production, statistics, status and trends. Global production of M. rosenbergii has increased to over 200,000 tonnes/yr by 2002.
Macrobrachium species occur commonly in the West African region and constitute an important part of the artisanal fishery. Two species of these prawns Macrobrachium macrobrachion and M. vollenhovenii are important food items and are good items for exports when fully recruited for aquaculture.