Ovarian changes and female-specific protein levels during sexual maturation of the white shrimp Penaeus indicus

Abstract

The histological changes in the ovary and female-specific protein levels in the hemolymph during sexual maturation of Penaeus indicus were determined. Ovarian maturation was classified into four stages: immature stage, consisting mainly of oogonia and primary oocytes; maturing stage, composed of oocytes with yolky substances in the cytoplasm; mature stage, oocytes with club-shaped cortical rods in the peripheral cytoplasm; and spent stage, composed of primary oocytes, oocytes with yolky substances and scattered residual rod-like bodies.

Female-specific protein levels in the hemolymph were low in the immature stage (4.45 µg/ml), increased significantly in the maturing stage (23.53 µg/ml), peaked in fully mature (48.30 mu g/ml) and decreased in spent (22.86 µg/ml) females.