Variation in lipid concentration of the crab Portunus sanguinolentus at different developmental stages.

Crab meat is a popular delicacy sold at high market price. The results of the present study showed the variation in total lipid concentration of the haemolymph, ovary and hepatopancreas of the crab, Portunus sanguinolentus in different stages. The lipid concentration of muscle and haemolymph was lower than that of ovary and hepatopancreas and it did not change markedly during the ovarian development. On the other hand, the lipid concentration of ovary and hepatopancreas varied markedly with that of ovarian maturation.Among the three different stages such as immature, mature and spawning crabs, the maximum lipid concentration was noticed in mature crabs hepatopancreas (23.7%) and minimum in the haemolymph of spawning crabs (1.7%).