Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1815
Diagnosis
All five pairs of pereiopods well developed. Pleurobrachia present on at least somite 9 (that of the 3rd maxillipede). Some of the somites have at least three branchiae on each side. In total at least eleven well developed gills on each side.
The Penaeoidea comprises five families: Aristeidae, Benthesicymidae, Sicyonidae, Solenoceridae and the Penaeidae; none of them is represented in the North Sea. Penaeoids are usually deep-water species.
Distribution
Penaeoids are absent from the North Sea, but reported nearest to our area are:
¥ Gennadas elegans (Smith, 1882) Family Benthesicymidae. From the Iceland- Faeroe-Shetland-N Scotland area.
¥ Funchalia woodwardi Johnson, 1867 Family Penaeidae. From the Norwegian Sea and the Iceland-Faeroe-Shetland-N Scotland area (Zariquiey Alvarez, 1968 regarding the adults; Dos Santos and Lindley, 2001 with respect to the larvae).
¥ Melicertus kerathurus (Forskål, 1775) (=Penaeus kerathurus ) Family Penaeidae. From the E Atlantic Ocean between S England and Angola (Pérez Farfante and Kensley, 1997).
[Diagnosis of Penaeoidea after Pérez Farfante and Kensley, 1997]