Larval development — Penaeus monodon Fabricius

Abstract

Penaeus monodon, the giant tiger prawn, has spawned in the Narakkal Prawn Culture Laboratory of the CMFRI and larvae have been reared to the juvenile stage. At a rearing temperature of 26.5°C to 28.5°C the nauplii hatched out of the eggs 16-17 hours after spawning; the nauplius stage lasted 40-55 hours; the duration of protozoea stage was 4i-6 days and the mysis stage lasted for 3-6 days. The larve passed through 6 nauplius, 3 protozoea and 3 mysis substages before becoming postlarva 1. The detaile:! structure of the larval substages is described and illustrated in this paper.