STUDIES ON BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF HAEMOLYMPH AND MUSCLE OF PENAEID PRAWNS, METAPENAEUS MONOCEROS (FABRICIUS), PENAEUS MONODON FABRICIUS; AND P. INDICUS H. MILNE EDWARDS GIDDA MAHESWARUDU, m . sc. THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE ANDHRA UNIVERSITY FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WALTAIR MARCH 1991 INDIA Dedicated to My M other icu te. Smt. G. SARASWATH/ CONTENTS Page DECLARATION CERTIFICATE 1 - IV PREFACE 1 - iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION II CHAPTER 1 MATERIAL AND METHODS LENGTH-WEIGHT AND CARAPACE-TOTAL LENGTH CHAPTER 2 33 RELATIONSHIP BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF HAEMOLYMPH IN CHAPTER 3 RELATION TO SEX, SIZE, WEIGHT AND CONDITION 46 FACTOR BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MUSCLE IN CHAPTER 4 RELATION TO SEX, SIZE, WEIGHT AND CONDITION 73 FACTOR INTRA AND INTER-RELATIONSHIPS OF CHAPTER 5 HAEMOLYMPH AND MUSCLE CHARACTERISTICS 103 VARIATION IN BIOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF CHAPTER 6 niEM OL?M PH, MUSCLE AND GONAD DURING 115 OVARIAN DEVELOPMENT VARIATION IN THE COMPOSITION OF HAEMOLYMPH CHAPTER 7 AND MUSCLE OF PRAWNS CULTURED DURING 135 DIFFERENT SEASONS 143 SUMMARY i - XX REFERENCES APPENDIX DECLARATION I declare that the present work is original and has not been published or submitted in part or in full for any degree or prize. G. MAHESWARUDU) WALTAIR Dt. CERTIFICATE Certified that this is a bona fide research work of Mr. G. MAHESWARUDU ^ \ -'* I’ iA O (K. SRINIVASA RAO) WALTAIR Director of Research Dt. PREFACE Decapod crustaceans, comprised of the familiar forms such as prawns, lobsters and crabs, constitute an important group in the exploited and exported fishery resources of India. Among these crustaceans, prawns, particularly the penaeid prawns, are the most commercially exploited group of paramount importance by virtue of their esteemed food value all over the world. The capture fishery for prawns is carried out on a commercial scale in the sea and at subsistance level in the estuaries and backw aters. With the introduction of mechanised trawling and modern processing technology, capture and utilisation of prawns in India witnessed a phenomenal expansion during the past four decades. Consequently, in the marine fisheries of India, penaeid prawns stand third in the order of abundance with a production of 1,46,753 tonnes during 1989. In the same year, a total of 56, 830 tonnes of prawns and prawn products valued at Rs. 470.33 crores were exported from India. As the exploitation of prawns in the capture fishery is stepped up, their catch over the years in several of the fishing grounds along the coast stabilised at the optimum level of sustained production, but for a decreasing trend in certain centres. Several studies conducted on the intensive fishing and resource characteristics indicated that further increase of fishing effort in the grounds exploited at present may not yield enhanced catch. In this context, the strategies employed to conserve the resources are judicious management of the exploited stocks, extension of range of exploitation to underexploited resource and more importantly development and promotion of culture fisheries. Aquaculture of prawns has now been recognised as a definite means of augmenting prawn production and consequently, this sector is rapidly developing and expanding in all the maritime states of the country. One of the prominent features observed in the capture and culture fisheries of the prawns in India, is the wide fluctuation in their production. Such fluctuations have serious drawbacks on the economy of the fishing industry. Several biotic and abiotic factors are known to influence the production of prawns. While the several ongoing studies, are concerned with the biology, stocksize and fishery characteristics of the constituent species in the fishery, investigations on the physiological and biochemical changes taking place under the different culture conditions are rather scarce. However, it is well known that these changes in the penaeid prawns are partly due to oscillations between marine and brackishwater environments. Changes take place even in a stable environment due to cercadian rhythm. moulting cycle and developmental changes due to growth and reproduction. In nature. I l l where ter^perature, saUnity, photophase eto., vary simultaneously in a non-programmed manner, the animals adjust their life processes through a complex physiological and behavioural pattern. Similarly, biochemical changes in the biological systems play a significant role in the activities of these animals. The knowledge concerning these aspects in respect of the penaeid prawns of India is rather meagre. In view of the paucity of the available information the present investigation on the biochemical composition of the three commercially important penaeid prawns, namely, Metapenaeus monoceros, Penaeus monodon and P. indicus is taken up and the results are embodied in this thesis. T h e thesis deals with the biochemical composition of the most important tissues, haemolymph and muscle, of M. m onoceros, P. monodon and P. indicus in the wild state and under cultured conditions in the brackishwater ponds. Observations on the sex- wise, length-weight relationships in these prawns are integrated to provide a meaningful interpretation. Similar studies were made on variation in the biochemical composition of haemolymph and muscle in relation to sex, size, weight and condition factor. T h e intra and inter-relationships between the different factors operating at t h e different phases of growth and maturation of gonads are investigated to bring out the significant factors. There were no earlier studies on these lines in literature. The information gathered is useful to evaluate culture strategies under varying conditions of the environment. This knowledge would also be useful in manipulating the growth and reproduction which are vital to the success of culture practices. ACKNOWLEVGBMENTS I take. tk i6 oppo^tanitLj to n.^doKd my dto,p gxatttado. and tnd^bt&dne.i6 to P^o^. K. SfUrUvaaa Rao, M.5c., ?k.V., V^voAtm^nt Zoology, LLnd2.A wkoi>z ablo. aaldancQ. the. pfie.6Q.yit ln v ^ 6 tlQ a tlo n ka.6 been 6Lic.ce.-i>6^u lly coAU ^d o u t. I t qivQ.6 me. g/ieai pUa6u.Ae. to ac.knoMle.dQe. th e pn.opo6al o i th e n.e.6e.a>ick pfioblejn, c.fu.ti.c.i6m and advice, o^^e.^e.d dufitng the, cou.H.6e. analu6t6 and the. patie.nce. and ca/ie lottk wktck the. mamiicxtpt ha6 been fie.vle,md by him . I am g/iat^/)ut to Pfioi. P.U. BhavanoAayana, ionyne.K Head o(, the V epaA tm ent Oi^ Z oology and to PAoj^. R. Macfiiau^, Head Of^ the Vepan.tment of, Zoology pfiov-ldtng the nece66a/iy ^ac-tl^tie6. I th a n k PAOii. P. ChandAXL Mohan, Va . V .V . Rama SoAJna, V/l. A.U. Raman, Vfi. B.l/.S.S.R. Subba Rao, Vfi. V, PfiabhakoAa Rao and otkeA 6 ta ^ membeA4 o^ the Zoology VepaKtment; Vn.. K. SatyanaAxiyana Rao, Re6ea^ck O^f^tcen., OJood Fn.e6eAvatlon Centre l^aAine), WaltaJ.fi and Va . K. Kamo>uxiAa Rao, V epaA tm ent of, E nvtA o n m en ta l S c te n c e 6 the^A. encoufiag-cng ujofid-i ivhtch helped tn -iucce66/iul completion of tht6 th e 6 l6 . I ooi6h to expfie-66 my th a n k s t o Va . K. PkanlpAoka&h, Vept. oi Zoology {,oK hi6 help dunlng 6pectAophotometeA opeAatton; Va . T. Satyana/uiyajui Rao, Vept. of Geology, who helped me in haemolymph 6ojr\plt6, analy6i6 on flame photometeA; Sfii fOtL^hna Reddy, AgfiicaltuAe OfficeA, Vept. of ^aten. & Soil Chmi6tAy, AgAicaltafie Re^ea^ch In-ititute, Raj'endAanagaA, HydeAabad {^oK. ki6 valuable help and advice dixfiing haemolymph -iaitiple6 analy6i6 on Atomic ab6oA.ption ipectAophotometeA. I am thankful to my colteagae Va. B. Rambha6koA, fo^i accompanying me to Kakinada to attend the pain6taking field wofik at t h e fiik foAm. I th a n k my co -6 ch o la A 6 Ma. V.f/.K. Vaftga PA0 6 a d, Va, M. Rama tJkLAtky, Va. V. PandoAonga Rao, Ma. J.V. Su6eeZ KumoA, Ma. K,\/. Sabba Rao, Va. T. Ravi \/aAma, Va. M. Balaji, Va. B. l/iAuxmadham, M j l . p . V z f i u , V k . (1^4.) Rdi-ia. SiiU ana, Vn. K. Lakshm i, Mm. K . A i h a JyothU, i^O't co-opo.’iation du-nJ^yig the, pfit6nnt 6tady. J £xp/L£ii my Q>iat^.^LLlyi2.i6 to Vk. T. RajyaZak6hjriL, HeX-i'iQ.d PU nclpal CmtKal Jn6titat^ S.iaak^ik AqaacuUu^.e., undQ^n. u:kom my ^^6^a.rch wa-6 and {,ok hoA con6tayit e^yicoLLfiaqm^nt KzndoJitd duKA^ng th& pfi^.6Q,vit 6tu.dy. I am veAy mack gKaU^ul to Vk. P. i^edavya&a Rao, P M ctp a l S M n t t 6 t , 0,^]^MA.-tn-ckaAgz o^ :Hang<Uo^e R&6&a^cch Ce.nt^c oi Central UoAM FlAhejU&6 R&6caA.ch J n ^ tlta tt, Uangalofie. ^ofi kl6 valaabU a.dvA.ce. w hlt2. going thn.oagh th& manu6c^pt. I thank V^, K. Gopala Rao, Jn-ckaJig2., and Snl V, Maru.ckandAM. k^ddy, A66t. U6&a^ch of, ^^acklhkimtvi n^k fanm oi AndUa Pn.adQ.f^k Kgn.ldiiltafial iSnlvzKUty, Kaklnada ion. th M help -cn obta^n^ng hae/nolympfi and mu6c.l& 6ampl^6 oi a t thu tbn<i o^ koAv^-it^ng; and SfU Reafaen, S.G. and SnJ. M. Chand;ia SekhoA, UcknicaZ A66i6tant oi M t a t A P.^6^aAck C^ntn^e o^ CMFRI ^o-n. t h M help -cn getting Uve-pfiam6 i^om the tn.atvl catah^i oU \/^^akhapatnam.