Freezing of viable embryos and larvae of marine shrimp, Penaeus semisulcatus de Haan

Abstract

Although sperm cryopreservation has been carried out successfully in a number of commercially important aquatic species, particularly in some teleost fish (see review of Rana in Muir & Roberts 1993) and also shellfish (Subramoniam 1993), the technology is still not at the stage of advanced commercial application that is seen in domestic mammals. Cryopreservation of eggs and embryos, of aquatic animals however, is a virgin field in cryobiology and has not yet received any appreciable amount of attention. The first successful attempt at the cryopreservation of embryos of sea urchin was reported by Asahina & Takahashi (1978). Later Zell (1978) and Erdahl & Graham (1980) have reported preliminary attempts to freeze the eggs of rainbow trout.