Hatchery production of penaeid prawn larvae for large scale coastal aquaculture

The ever increasing demand for frozen penaeid prawns has \ngiven an impetus to culture these prawns in the tropical and \nsub-tropical regions of the world. One of the serious bottlenecks \nin the culture of prawns is the availability of seed prawns at the \nproper time for stocking purposes. The methods developed in \ncountries such as Japan, Taiwan, Philippines and the U. S. A. \nfor large scale hatchery production of penaeid postlarvae suitable \nfor stocking are critically reviewed. The success achieved by \nthe Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute at the hatchery \nin Narakkal in spawning and mass culturing the commercially \nimportant penaeid prawns such as Penaeus indicus, P. monodon, \nMetapenaeus dobsoni, M. affinis, M. monoceros and Parapenaeopsis \nstylifera from the egg stage to the postlarval stage is reported