Abstract

Data on the record of a new prawn species for the estuarine ecosystems of the Western Caspian Sea, Macrobrachium nipponense (De Haan, 1849) (Decapoda, Crustacea, Palaemoninae), are given. Several specimens of oriental river prawn were found in the lower reaches of the Terek River, 24 km upstream of the mouth. To determine the taxonomic status of this prawn, we carried out the DNA barcoding of the COI gene. The COI gene sequence that we obtained is 99% correlated with the previously published data in the GenBank and BOLD databases. A phylogenetic analysis has revealed a genetic proximity between M. nipponense from the Terek River and the native population of prawn living in the Huaihe River in the Huaibin and Huainan regions (China). The biological features of the species suggest a high probability of its successful naturalization in the estuarine systems of the Caspian Sea, as well as its further expansion.