The Eastern King Prawn (Penaeus plebejus) belongs to the prawn family Penaeidae. Common Penaeus species include king prawns, tiger prawns and banana prawns. The key feature for this family is that the rostrum is armed with ventral teeth. Penaeus species are the major commercial prawn species in Australia and they are caught by trawl boats. The Eastern King Prawn is found in the waters of eastern Australia from North Reef in the Great Barrier reef off Queensland to Lakes Entrance in Victoria.
This species prefers to live in estuarine waters that have sandy/silty bottoms and they are also found in oceanic waters to depths of 220 metres. A key characteristic of the Eastern King Prawn is the brightly coloured tail with thin blue and red lines. The body is cream to yellow in colour. The Eastern King Prawn (Penaeus plebejus) grows to approximately 30 cm total length for females and 19 cm for males.
