Dj. Die et al., A QUANTITATIVE METHOD FOR STAGING PENAEID PRAWN OVARIES USING IMAGE-ANALYSIS, INVERTEBRATE REPRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT, 28(3), 1995, pp. 177-183
A quantitative method of staging reproductive development based on the
use of cell measurements and computerized image analysis of histologi
cal sections is described. The method has been applied to samples of e
astern king prawn, Penaeus plebejus, collected in Queensland, Australi
a. Luminance measurements of selected tissue structures within the ova
ry were used to determine three luminance ranges which characterized o
varian development in histological sections. Cell diameter, average lu
minance and percent area of an ovary section within a luminance range
of 200-245 were the most useful variables to discriminate between the
different ovarian developmental stages. Discriminant analysis successf
ully separated maturing, mature and resorbing groups in 94% of the sam
ples, but discrimination of stages within the above groups was as low
as 30%. The estimated discriminant functions suggest there is a contin
uum of development which can be characterized by a combination of meas
urements obtained from histological sections.