Histological study on the gonadal development of Exopalaemon carinicauda(Holthuis, 1950)

Ridgetail white prawn(Exopalaemon carinicauda)is an important commercially exploited species in China,however,its speedy cultural development suffered the seedling shortage because of the absence of standard protocol in artificial seedling.To provide the basic knowledge needed in artificial reproduction,a histological study on the gonadal development of E.carinicauda was performed by the paraffin section technique and HE staining method.The results show that the female reproductive system consists of ovary,oviduct and oviporus.Oogenesis could be classified into five different phases and the ovary development could be divided into five stages accordingly.The average gonad index varied from 0 to 10%.The female could spawn several times in the reproductive season.The male reproductive system is composed of testis,vas deferens and male gonopore.The testis consists of many seminiferous tubules,in which there are numerous sperms at different development stages.The spermatogenesis could be classified into five phases,i.e.,spermatogonium,primary spermatocyte,secondary spermatocyte,spermatid and sperm.The vas deferens where the spermatophore forms could be separated into anterior,medial,posterior and terminal segments.