Morphometric differentiation between two sympatricMacrobrachiumBates, 1868 shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) in West‐African rivers

A comparative morphometric study was performed on two species of shrimps, Macrobrachium macrobrachion (Herklots, 1851) and Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots, 1857). In total, 714 specimens (563 males and 151 females) originating from four rivers in Ivory Coast were analysed. The morphometry was carried out on 33 measurements; seven meristic and four morphological characters and ratios were calculated from the measurements. Data were analysed using univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistics. Meristic and morphological characters did not allow separation of distinct species. However, metric variables and ratios clearly discriminated the two species. The characters (merus/palm, carpus/palm, palm width/palm length, carpus width/carpus length, palm width) related to the form and the size of second pereiopods could be used for the discrimination of both species. This study, by allowing accurate identification of these species, will facilitate future research.