Presence of Penaeus monodon in the continental shelf of the State of Para , Northern Brazil ( Crustacea , Decapoda , Penaeidae ) Presença de Penaeus monodon na plataforma continental do Estado do Pará ( Crustacea , Decapoda , Penaeidae )

In October 2010, a specimen of tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon was captured by a vessel from an industrial fishery fleet using a bottom trawling net in the area of the continental shelf of the State of Para. The female sample was collected at 25 m depth. This capture shows that since the 1980s this species has occurred in the north Brazilian continental shelf. RESUMO: Um espécime do camarão-tigre-gigante Penaeus monodon foi capturado em outubro de 2010 com rede de arrasto de fundo, por embarcações da frota industrial de peixes diversos, na plataforma continental do Estado do Pará. O exemplar é uma fêmea e foi coletado em profundidade de 25 m. O registro comprova que, desde a década de 1980, a espécie ocorre em águas da plataforma continental norte brasileira. AUTORES: Israel Hidenburgo Aniceto Cintra1 Kleber de Sá Paiva1 Marcel do Nascimento Botelho1 Kátia Cristina de Araújo Silva1 1 Socio-environmental and Hydric Resources Institute, Federal Rural University of the Amazon – UFRA, Av. Presidente Tancredo Neves, 2501, Montese, 66077530, Belém, PA, Brazil Recebido: 20/09/2011


Introduction
The industrial fishing of penaeids along the Brazilian north coast is an important economic activity that has as a main target the pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus subtilis.
The industrial fishing of shrimps occurs from the mouth of Parnaiba River (02° 53' S) to the mouth of Oiapoque River (04° 23' N), on the border of Brazil and French Guiana.In other words, this area covers the coast of three States: Maranhao, Para and Amapa.This area is part of a huge shrimp bench that goes up to the Orinoco River in Venezuela, covering an area of 223.000 km² (IBAMA, 1994).
Also, the capture of two specimen of tiger prawn, P. monodon, was registered by Silva, Ramos-Porto and Cintra (2002) in the continental shelf of the State of Amapa.This shrimp is one of the largest penaeids in the world with considerable commercial importance in the international markets and its production originates from grow-out farms and commercial capture.According to authors, anglers of the "Pesca Leal Santos Company" have reported occasional fishing of P. monodon on the State of Amapa coast since 1993.
The purpose of this study was to show the presence of P. monodon in the Brazilian north continental shelf, in particular in the State of Para, to warn about the possible impacts associated to this species.

Materials and Methods
In October 2010, a specimen of tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon was captured by a vessel from an industrial fishery fleet using a bottom trawling net in the area of the continental shelf of the State of Para; this vessel was catching fish of different species.This specimen was conserved in ice in a cold chamber until the vessel reached the harbor.
In the Crustaceous Laboratory at the Center for Research and Management of Fishery Resources of the North Shore (Cepnor), this specimen was identified using the Pérez-Farfante and Kensley (1997) and Dall et al. ( 1990) key of identification.Also, the sex of the animal was identified (through the presence of petasma in males and thelycum in females), as well as the biometrics total length -TL (from the apex of the rostrum to the end of the telson) and the total weight -TW.Length measurements were performed with the aid of a graph ictiometer and a caliper, a precision scale was used to obtain the weight.

Results and Discussion
The specimen captured in October 2010, using a bottom trawling net, by a vessel from an industrial fishery fleet in the area of the continental shelf of the State of Para was analyzed (Figure 1).
Color -The specimen showed blue gray color, brown crossed stripes both on the carapace and abdomen; on the abdomen, the stripes are located close to posterior segments margin, they are preceded by cream, yellow and red-gray stripes; pleopods with red bangs.The specimen's color is similar to

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Specimen of Penaeus monodon Fabricius, 1798, captured in October 2010 in the continental shelf of the State of Para, Brazil.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Capture location of giant tiger shrimp in the continental shelf of the State of Para, Brazil.