Maturing, Spawning and Egg Collecting of the White Shrimp Penaeus vannamei Boone in a Recirculating System

A specially designed recirculating system was used to maintain P. vannamei broodstock for maturation, mating and spawning in the same tank. Two groups of different size shrimp were stocked in this system in Phase I (8 May to 5 September 1989) and Phase II (5 September to 5 December 1989). Results showed that this recirculating system was able to maintain good water quality keeping broodstock maturing, mating and spawning with high stocking density (10 shrimp/m²) and low mortality (6%). Seventy-eight percent of spawned eggs were collected by a submerged egg collector. Mating success was very poor (3.4%) in Phase I even though there was normal spawning frequency. Mating success and nauplii production were much improved in Phase II. During Phase II 104 male and female broodstock housed in a 6 m³ tank produced 1.6 ± 10⁶ nauplii (with 70% mating success) in three months. This study illustrated that broodstock size was a critical factor of successful mating and fertilization for P. vunnamei , and also, reduction of handling stress and lowered disturbance of the shrimp greatly enhanced the mating success.