Solenocera crassicornis is a commercially important shrimp of the Solenoceridae family. The current study investigated the morphology, molecular identification, phylogenetic relationships, and population dynamics of S. crassicornis in Egypt. Samples were collected monthly (total, 1722; male = 40.19%, wet weight, 0.89–10.77 g; female = 59.81%, wet weight, 1.55–19.24 g) from Al-Attaka commercial catch in the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea. Two barcode markers, 18S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), were used for molecular identification. COI partial sequences were used to construct the phylogenetic relationships among different species of genus Solenocera and to infer the origin of the studied Solenocera crassicornis. The applied molecular markers successfully identified the studied species to the species level. The genetic distances among S. crassicornis sequences from different countries revealed the Indo-West Pacific origin of S. crassicornis. The relationship between total length (TL) and total weight (TW) was TW = 0.035TL^2.275 and r² = 0.805 for males and TW = 0.007TL^3.036 and r² = 0.883 for females, indicating that females were heavier than males. Despite its social and economic relevance in the area, information on the hatching, larval rearing, and farming of S. crassicornis is scarce and requires future studies under Egyptian conditions.

The present study aimed to determine some population parameters of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) from Burullus Wetland, Egypt. Samples (N=431) were collected with gillnets between January and December 2022. Their lengths ranged between 18.8 and 76.7cm, and their weights ranged between 40 and 3905g. The sex ratio (1:1.18) were slightly biased toward females. The value of length-weight ratio (LWR) coefficient (b) was calculated as 3.14, 3.25, and 3.18 for females, males, and combined sex, respectively. Therefore, positive allometric growth was recorded. Mean values of condition factors were calculated as K= 0.737± 0.005 and Kn= 0.396± 0.002. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated as L∞=86.4cm, K=0.25 year-1, t0= -0.35, φ=3.27 for all samples. The first maturity length (Lm50) was estimated at 28.61 and 30.83cm for females and males, respectively. In conclusion, although African catfish have good growth performance in this region, the C. gariepinus stocks in this Wetland are overexploited.