Shellfish Breeding and Hatchery Management (2+1)

Introduction

Hatching of eggs in the decapod crustaceans release only a larva that has entirely a different life and habits. Larvae of shrimps are either planktonic or free swimming and not crawlers. The feed preference differs from one larval stage to another making the larval life distinctively clear and well defined. There are many characters like, eye, rostrum length and teeth, body segments and appearence of appendages, etc help in the identification of larval stages. The process of metamorpohosis helps the larvae to move on to the next stage and therefore feed and water quality are important parameters for the development of larvae, particulary passing from one stage to another.