The activity of digestive enzymes during the molting stages of the arched swimming Callinectes arcuatus Ordway, 1863 (Crustacea : Decapoda : Portunidae)

There are few studies concerning the behavior of digestive enzymes during t he molting cycle in swimming crabs. The digestive enzyme activities of prot ease, amylase, lipase and chitinase in the hepatopancreas of Callinectes ar cuatus during the intermolting, premolting, molting and postmolting stages were determined. The results confirm that these activities were strongly af fected by the molting process. The activity of protease was negligible duri ng molt stage whereas amylase and lipase activity increased during molt sta ge.