Morphological and histological observation on ovary development of Penaeus monodon from northern South China Sea

Anatomical and histological methods were used to study the morphological structure and histology of different development stages of Penaeus monodon from the northern South China Sea.Based on the classified parameters of ovarian histology,gonadosomatic index(GSI),ovarian color and size upon dissection,oocyte diameter,frequency of oocyte size and shape and distribution of oocyte nucleolus,the characteristics of ovarian histological structure at six development stages,namely primordial germ cell stage,chromatin nucleolus stage,perinucleolus stage,yolky stage,cortical rod stage,and spent stage,were studied.In addition,the parameters obtained in this study were compared with those from Philippines.The result showed that the reproductivities of Penaeus monodon from two different populations were different.