Abstract
Spawned eggs of Trachypenaeus curvirostris were incubated under-laboratory condition in order to examine their early life history and to compare their embryonic development with those of other penaeid species. As development progressed, samples of embryo were collected, photomicrographed and preserved in 4% formaldehyde/seawater solution buffered with sodium tetraborate. The breeders started to spawn between 21:00-00:00h. Fecundities ranged between 6,400 to 106,700 eggs. The derived correlation equation between fecundity and carapace length of breeders was Y=log(-352.215+18.6561X) (r=0.94^*). Egg size enlarged from 223μm at spawning to 400μm just before hatching. After 15h 13min at 26±0.2℃ and 32.5 ppt, 56.49% of the eggs hatched as first nauplius larvae covered with amnion-like sac. However 19.9% of the nauplius stage remained embryonized and 10.3% hatched when they reached first protozoea stage after 60h 13min. This is the first time that embryonized nauplius and protozoea stages have been reported in the ontogeny of species in the Family Penaeidae.
