The effect of chronic exposure (35 days) to sub-lethal concentrations of copper (17-212 ppb) and zinc (41-525 ppb) on growth of Farfantepenaeus paulensis postlarvae 17 days old (PL(17)) was analysed. The effects of acute exposure of PL(17) to the same metal on food ingestion and oxygen consumption were also evaluated. Studies were performed using copper and zinc singly, and in a mixture of equi...

The present study reports the characterization of Ls-Stylicin1, a novel antimicrobial peptide from the penaeid shrimp, Litopenaeus stylirostris. The predicted mature peptide of 82 residues is negatively charged (theoretical pI=5.0) and characterized by a proline-rich N-terminal region and a C-terminal region containing 13 cysteine residues. The recombinant Ls-Stylicin1 has been isolated in both...

The signal freshwater crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus was found to be susceptible to infection with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Histopathological observations of various tissues of virus-injected crayfish showed similar symptoms to those from WSSV-infected penaeid shrimp, but no appearance of white spots on the cuticle or reddish body colour were observed, although these are the promine...

Aquaculture contributes more than one-third of the animal protein from marine sources worldwide. A significant proportion of aquaculture products are derived from marine protostomes that are commonly referred to as 'marine invertebrates'. Among them, penaeid shrimp (Ecdysozosoa, Arthropoda) and bivalve molluscs (Lophotrochozoa, Mollusca) are economically important. Mass rearing of arthropods an...

Endosulfan, a broad-spectrum non-systemic organochlorine (OC) pesticide is extensively used to control a wide variety of pests in agriculture, horticulture and public health programmes. Biochemical changes occurring in the metabolically active tissues of gills (GL), hepatopancreas (HP) and muscle (MU) of the penaeid shrimp, Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius) on exposure to two sublethal doses (4...

Two new species of intertidal ghost shrimp are described from coastal Central American habitats of the eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing the total known membership of the genus to 18 species. Lepidophthalmus natesi sp. nov. from Colombia and Nicaragua shares with Lepidophthalmus panamensis sp. nov. from Colombia and Panama the lack of extensive ventral pleomere armor, especially in lacking a medi...

Whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei is one of the most commercially farmed species worldwide because of its fast growth, good survival rate at high farming densities, and osmoregulatory capacity, which makes it an excellent candidate for cultures at different salinities. The knowledge of shrimp nutritional requirements is critical in the formulation of diets to allow optimal growth at differe...

A long-held paradigm is that estuaries are important to the welfare of estuarine-dependent coastal fisheries, providing spawning areas, suitable salinity gradients for development, protection from predators, and food. Many publications link the beneficial nature of estuaries with fisheries production and decry human activities that modify habitat, and therefore potentially decrease fisheries pr...