Need a little help with scientific names.

[frugalfish]

Is Macrobrachium banjarae another name used for Macrobrachium c.f. mirabile?

Or how about Macrobrachium peguensis used for Macrobrachium assamense/dayanum?

[Mustafa]

Macrobrachium "banjarae" is just a misspelling of Macrobrachium banjare. That turned out to be a misidentification. This shrimp does not seem to have been scientifically described yet. Hence it was given the temporary name "Macrobrachium cf. mirabile" since it resembles M. mirabile the most, although it's not that species. That's what the "cf." denotes.

Macrobrachium "peguensis" is one of the names that exporters basically make up just have a scientific name for the shrimp they are exporting. That name is a valid scientific name but just not for this species. What exporters do is just figure out what species have been described from their country and randomly pick one of the names. They are not scientifically savvy at the least. The bottom line is that the US most likely requires scientific names for imported animals just to be able to control what's coming into the country. After all if the US allowed importation of any animals without any scientific names required, then protected and threatened species could be imported.

As I have said many times before, I have yet to see the correct scientific name used for a shrimp species used by an exporter. They all come up with all kinds of names some of which are so wrong that I just have to shake my head. For example Caridina gracilirostris, which is an Atyid shrimp is still being imported as "Palaemon scarletti", which is a Palaemonid shrimp. These are totally different groups of shrimp! You'll see less than knowledgeable online sellers still list that nonesense scientific name.

Not only is Palaemon scarletti the wrong name for C. gracilirostris, that name does not even exist anymore! The real "Palaemon scarletti" is now called Macrobrachium scarletti (all Macrobrachium were listed as Palaemon at one point in time). It's had that name for a few decades I believe..

Hope this gives a little insight with some of the scientific names for shrimp floating out there on the internet and on dealers' and importers' lists.

[frugalfish]

That definitely helps.


I guess a quick search would have answered my question just as well.


Thanks Mustafa.

[antoinette]

I recently heard the banjare/mirabile isn't even a macrobrachium species! It will get a complete new name inh the nearby future.

[Mustafa]

Possible. Scientific classifications change once in a while.