Novel Comprehensive Molecular and Ecological Study Introducing Coastal Mud Shrimp (<i>Solenocera Crassicornis</i>) Recorded at the Gulf of Suez, Egypt

• Main Authors: Eman M. Abbas, Fawzia S. Ali, Mohammed G. Desouky, Mohamed Ashour, Ahmed El-Shafei, Mahmoud M. Maaty, Zaki Z. Sharawy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-12-01
• Series: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
• Subjects: Penaeoidea; Solenoceridae; shrimp; Suez Gulf; Red Sea; DNA barcoding
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/9/1/9

<i>Solenocera crassicornis</i> is a commercially important shrimp of the Solenoceridae family. The current study investigated the morphology, molecular identification, phylogenetic relationships, and population dynamics of <i>S. crassicornis</i> in Egypt. Samples were collected monthly (total, 1722; male = 40.19%, wet weight, 0.89–10.77 g; female = 59.81%, wet weight, 1.55–19.24 g) from Al-Attaka commercial catch in the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea. Two barcode markers, 18S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), were used for molecular identification. COI partial sequences were used to construct the phylogenetic relationships among different species of genus <i>Solenocera</i> and to infer the origin of the studied <i>Solenocera crassicornis</i>. The applied molecular markers successfully identified the studied species to the species level. The genetic distances among <i>S. crassicornis</i> sequences from different countries revealed the Indo-West Pacific origin of <i>S. crassicornis</i>. The relationship between total length (TL) and total weight (TW) was TW = 0.035TL^2.275 and r² = 0.805 for males and TW = 0.007TL^3.036 and r² = 0.883 for females, indicating that females were heavier than males. Despite its social and economic relevance in the area, information on the hatching, larval rearing, and farming of <i>S. crassicornis</i> is scarce and requires future studies under Egyptian conditions.