Rearing of native freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium carcinus (L.) (Palaemonidae), larvae: Its prospects and interest in the French West-Indies.

Preliminary laboratory studies demonstrated that larvae of Macrobrachium ca rcinus need brackish water to develop fully. Nevertheless, the number of la rvae reared in these first experiments were too low to consider intensive c ultivation. In this work, we started with 46,900 stage l larvae a mass rear ing at 28-30 degrees C. We highlighted that post-larvae production under va rying salinity conditions is possible within 45 days, with 14.3 % final sur vival and 10.6 % metamorphosis rates. These results are tow in comparison w ith those obtained with Macrobrachium rosenbergii, but are encouraging for the cultivation of M. carcinus in the French West-Indies and elsewhere.