Nearly 300 tiger shrimp were collected off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in the three months after the August, 1988 accidental release of roughly 2,000 animals from an aquaculture facility in South Carolina. In September 2006, 18 years later, a single adult male was captured by a commercial shrimp fisherman in Mississippi Sound near Dauphin Island, Alabama (L. Hartman, pers. comm.). A month later, five specimens were collected in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina (T. Moore, pers. comm.). A single specimen was caught in in August, 2007 in Vermilion Bay, Louisiana (H. Blanchet, pers. comm.), and several more were reported from Florida and both Carolinas shortly thereafter. The first documented collections in Georgia, Mississippi and Texas occurred in 2008, 2009 and 2011, respectively. The species has now been found from North Carolina to Texas. Although the number of reports is high (314 from 2006-2011), the number of individuals ranges from 1-15 and averages just slightly greater than one specimen per report. Penaeus monodon was one of six species of penaeid shrimp transported to Hawaii for aquaculture and research between 1978-1991. Some individuals escaped from culture ponds during flooding, but no populations are thought to be established (Eldredge 1994).

Data source: USGS NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species

Number of records does not imply species abundance. These maps represent collection records only and may not reflect the actual distribution of established populations.