Penaeus indicus H.

Milne Edwards, 1837 [Penaeidae]

Biological features Carapace rather smooth, lacking gastrofrontal and hepatic crests; adrostral crest extending as far as or just before epigastric tooth; rostrum slightly curved at tip and sigmoidal-shaped, usually bearing 7 to 9 upper teeth (including those on carapace) and 3 to 6 lower teeth; rostral crest generally slightly elevated in large specimens including adult females (but still with crest in females slightly higher than in males); postrostral crest extending near to posterior margin of carapace; gastro-orbital crest distinct, extending over posterior 3/5 distal 2 to 2/3 of distance between hepatic spine and orbital margin. In adult petasma males, third maxilliped with distal segment about as long as second (ventral view) segment which bears a tuft of dense long hairs (same length as distal segment) attip. Petasma of males with distomedian projections strongly curved and overhanging distal margin of costae. Thelycum of females formed by 2 semi-circular lateral plates, with their median margins forming tumid lips; anterior process slightly rounded and slightly convex; posterior process elongated and inserted between anterior part of lateral plates; both anterior and posterior processes rather distinct. Telson lacking lateral spines. Colour: body semi-translucent, somewhat yellowish white (small specimens) or greyish green and covered with numerous minute dark brown dots; eyes light brown and covered with some dark brown mesh-like stripes; rostral and abdominal dorsal crests reddish brown to dark brown; antennal flagella yellowish; antennular flagella of same colour as body and covered with many dark spots; legs translucent and somewhat whitish, pleopods yellowish to pinkish; distal part of uropods yellowish with red margins. Size: Maximum body length 23 cm (females) and 18.4 cm (males), usually less than 17 cm. Habitat and biology The Indian white prawn inhabits the coasts of East Africa, South Africa, Madagascar, the Gulf, Pakistan, the Southwest and East coast of India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Southern China and the Northern coast of Australia. P. indicus is non-burrowing, active at both day and night, and prefers a sandy mud bottom. Adults are normally found at depths less than 30 m but have also been caught from 90 m. The shrimp mature and breed mostly in marine habitats and spend the juvenile and sub-adult stages of 30 to 120 mm total length (TL) in coastal estuaries, backwaters or lagoons. Juveniles can tolerate a much wider range of salinity (5-40) than adults. On the southwest coast of India the juveniles support a good commercial fishery in the backwaters and paddy fields. Geographic variations in size at first maturity are evident and vary from 130 to 149 mm TL. P. indicus females are highly fecund, ranging from 68 000 to 1 254 200 eggs from females of 140-200 mm TL. There are five stages in ovarian maturation: immature, early maturing, late maturing, mature and spent. P. indicus belongs to the closed

thelycum group and mating takes place immediately after the females moult. During mating, which normally occurs at night, the sperm packs (spermatheca) are deposited by the hard-shelled male into the thelycum of the newly moulted, soft-shelled female. The females carry the spermatheca during ovarian maturation and the sperms are dispensed at the time of spawning. Fertilization is external as the ripe ova released by the female become fertilized by the sperm extruding simultaneously from the stored spermatheca in the thelycum. Depending upon the temperature, hatching takes place within 8-12 hours after spawning. The nauplii are free swimming and non-feeding and pass through six moults. The larvae further pass through protozoea (3 stages), mysis (3 stages), and then to postlarvae, which resemble the adult shrimp. The postlarvae migrate into the estuaries, settle and feed on benthic detritus, polychaete worms and small crustaceans, and remain there until they attain 110-120 mm TL. These sub-adults then return to the sea and get recruited into the fishery.

macrobrancham rosenbergii Artemia salina Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Branchiopoda Order: Anostraca Family: Artemiidae Genus: Artemia Species: A. salina Binomial name Artemia salina

Artemia salina is a species of brine shrimp aquatic crustaceans that are more closely related to Triops and cladocerans than to true shrimp. It is a very old species that does not appear to have changed in 100 million years. Description-Adults have three eyes and 11 pairs of legs and can grow to about 15 millimetres (0.6 in) in size. Their blood contains the pigment hemoglobin, which is also found in vertebrates. Males differ from females by having two large antennae on the head. Life cycle-Males have two reproductive organs. The females can produce eggs either in the usual way or via parthenogenesis. There are two types of eggs: thinshelled eggs that hatch immediately and thick shelled eggs, which can remain in a dormant state. These cysts can last for a number of years, and will hatch when they are placed in water. Thickshelled eggs are produced when the body of water is drying out, raising the salt concentration. If the female dies, the eggs develop further. Eggs hatch into nauplii that are about 0.5 mm in length. They have one single simple eye that only senses the presence and direction of light. Nauplii swim towards the light but adult individuals swim away from it. Later, the two more capable eyes develop but the initial eye also stays, resulting in three-eyed creatures.[2] Ecology-In nature, they live in salt lakes. They are almost never found in an open sea, most likely because of the lack of food and relative defenselessness. However, Artemia have been observed in Elkhorn Slough, which is connected to the sea.[3] Unlike most aquatic species, Artemia swims upside down.[2] Artemia can live in water having much more or much less salt content than normal seawater. They tolerate salt amounts as high as 50%,[2] which is nearly a saturated solution, and can live for several days in solutions very different from the sea water, such as potassium permanganate or silver nitrate,[3] while iodine a frequent addition to edible salt is harmful to them. The animal's color depends on the salt concentration, with high concentrations giving them a slightly red appearance. In fresh water, Artemia salina dies after about an hour. These shrimp feed mainly on green algae.[4] Uses-The resilience of these creatures make them ideal test samples in experiments. Artemia is one of the standard organisms for testing the toxicity of chemicals.[5] In addition, the eggs survive for years. Hence it is possible to buy eggs and also "Artemia growing kits" for children, containing eggs, salt, food and most necessary tools. These have been most popularly marketed under the name Sea Monkeys. Children have the possibility to observe the life cycle of this interesting organism. Aquaristic shops also sell frozen Artemia as fish food. Artemia occurs in vast numbers in the Great Salt Lake where it is commercially important.[4] However, nowadays it is believed that this lake is inhabited by a second brine shrimp species, Artemia franciscana

ARTEMIA