MORPHOLOGY OF HEMOCYTES FROM THE FRESH-WATER PRAWN MACROBRACHIUM-ROSENBERGII

Using morphological criteria, we identified three types of blood cells in the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Hyaline hemocytes, the most abundant type, have few large cytoplasmic granules, a large nucleocytoplasmic ratio, and lyse spontaneously in the absence of anti coagulant. Granular hemocytes are heterogeneous in size and in density of their granules. They are phagocytic and readily spread on substrat es. The third type of hemocytes, identified as undifferentiated hemocy tes, are the least abundant. The hemocytes of this economically releva nt crustacean are compared with blood cells of other decapods. (C) 199 7 Wiley-Liss, Inc.