A good nursery ground for tiger prawns located in Kerala

The green tiger prawn Penaeus semisulcatus de Haan is one of the large growing species of penaeid \nprawns occurring in Indian waters. It grows to a maximum size of 250 mm and has been reported from \nall along the west and east coasts. The occurrence of juveniles in large numbers in Ashtamudi badcwaters would suggest that it is an ideal nursery ground for this species. In Cochin backwaters this species occurs during December to May/June when the salinity is high and in recent years there has been a steady increase in its abundance in the experimental as well as commercial catches. The copious existence of juvenile stages in these two major backwater systems indicate the possibility of the availability of a breeding stock of this species in the sea somewhere in the southern part of Kerala coast.