Hatchery production of penaeid prawn larvae for large scale coastal aquaculture

The ever increasing demand for frozen penaeid prawns has given an impetus to culture these prawns in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. One of the serious bottlenecks in the culture of prawns is the availability of seed prawns at the proper time for stocking purposes. The methods developed in countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Philippines and the U. S. A. for large scale hatchery production of penaeid postlarvae suitable for stocking are critically reviewed. The success achieved by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute at the hatchery in Narakkal in spawning and mass culturing the commercially important penaeid prawns such as Penaeus indicus, P. monodon, Metapenaeus dobsoni, M. affinis, M. monoceros and Parapenaeopsis stylifera from the egg stage to the postlarval stage is reporte