Open AccessMolting and Mortality of Red Swamp and White River Crawfish Subjected to Eyestalk Ablation: A Preliminary Study for Commercial Soft‐Shell Crawfish Production
Author(s) -
Chen Shulin,
Malone Ronald F.,
Huner Jay V.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of the world aquaculture society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1749-7345
pISSN - 0893-8849
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-7345.1993.tb00149.x
Subject(s) - procambarus clarkii , biology , swamp , moulting , eyestalk , zoology , fishery , anatomy , ecology , crustacean , larva , crayfish
Eyestalk ablation may reduce the cost of soft‐shell crawfish production by reducing the molt interval. In this study, both immature and mature red swamp crawfish Procambarus clarkii and white river crawfish Procambarus zonangulus , formally Procambarus actus actus (Hobbs and Hobbs 1990), were ablated using a pair of modified pliers and placed in a recirculating system. Molting percentages, mortalities and mean molt intervals of the ablated crawfish were analyzed. Eyestalk ablation resulted in dramatic reduction of molt intervals and mortalities comparable with the current commercial (non‐ablation) soft‐shell crawfish production systems. The mean molt intervals of the ablated red swamp crawfish ranged from 6.7 to 7.8 days for immature and 9.2 days for mature animals; whereas, the molt interval of ablated white river crawfish was 8.9 and 11.2 days for immature and mature animals, respectively. Mortalities obtained in this study ranged from 20 to 48% and 32 to 66% for immature and mature crawfish, respectively. During the experiments, molting percentages and mortalities were not consistent. Secondary treatments such as air clotting and cauterization did not alter mortality significantly.