LAUSR

This study searches to provide appropriate conditions to trigger spawning in Penaeus semisulcatus in aquaculture. The aim was to test the effect of 17β-oestradiol and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone on ovarian maturation and to study the correlation between the different stages of ovarian maturation and hormonal levels in the ovaries, hepatopancreas, and haemolymph. Female shrimps were collected from Ras El-Tin beach and the fishing port to Abu Qir Bay of the Mediterranean Sea off Alexandria, Egypt from June 2018-August 2019. Shrimps were individually weighed and subsequently killed by thermal shock at a maximum temperature of 45°C. Gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices were calculated. The correlation between the gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices indicates the presence of endogenous and exogenous vitellogenesis. The haemolymph, hepatopancreas, and ovaries were studied by stereo- and electron microscopy. From 15 females in each season the mentioned tissues were isolated for the extraction and quantification of steroid hormones during the different stages of gonadal maturation using radioimmunoassay. An ecdysteroid- and steroid-extraction protocol was applied. Aliquots were collected from the haemolymph to identify 17β-oestradiol and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone by mass spectrometry. Five stages of gonadal maturation were observed. The hepatopancreas was formed by a set of tubules lined with pseudostratified epithelium composed of five cell types, cell E (undifferentiated), cell F (fibrillar), cell B (vesicular), R (reabsorbing), and M (basal) cells. Steroidogenic tissues were small in size and numerous. The ultrastructure of the ovary and hepatopancreas were studied during oocyte development. There was a high concentration of 17β-oestradiol and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone in stages I and II of ovarian maturation, coinciding with the preparation phase for vitellogenesis. A progressive decrease of these steroid hormones occurred during the course of gonadal maturation, and reached its lowest concentration in the spawning period. The ecdysone concentration did not fluctuate in ripe females. Its level increases from stages I-IV of vitellogenesis onward.