Biochemical changes in freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii during larval development

Quantitative changes in the protein, lipid and carbohydrate were studied in the early larval stages of developing freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosen bergii reared under fed and starved conditions to understand the relative i mportance of these nutrients in energy metabolism of the growing larvas. La rvae obtained from several females were stocked into three 250-L tanks at a density of 30 larvae/L. The feeding regime consisted of newly hatched Arte mia nauplii. Protein was always the major organic constituent followed by l ipids and then carbohydrates of both fed and starved larvae. Protein levels of both fed and starved larvae increased during development, suggesting an important role in morphogenesis. The decline of lipid during the larval gr owth that was more rapid for starved larvae, suggests a probable utilizatio n of lipid as the major metabolic source of energy. Carbohydrates formed le ss than 5 and 2.4% of the larval dry weight of fed and starved larvae. resp ectively. suggesting their limited role in larval metabolism.