female are produced into a platelike projection 

 bearing long bristles directed medially wliicli press 

 the spermatoj^hore against the thelycum, and help 

 it adhere to the thelycum. 



Few females have been found carrying spennato- 

 phores. I caught impregnated females in southern 

 Cuba from February to June. In western Vene- 

 zuela, between April and September Ewald 

 (1965c) found a number of females with spermato- 

 phores attached, and off Tucuracas, Dei3artamento 

 de la Guajira, Colombia, at Oregon Sta. 5674, a 

 female with a spennatoi)hore attached was caught 

 in October. 

 OVARY DEVELOPMENT 



The reproductive system of P. schmitti is simi- 

 lar to that of P. setiferus. In mature females two 

 partly fused ovaries extend almost the entire length 

 of the body, from the cardiac region of the stomach 

 to the posterior end of the abdomen. The develop- 

 ment of the ovary in P. schmitti has not been 

 studied in detail. Five stages have been recognized 

 by external characters similar to those described 

 for P. setiferus: 



1. Undeveloped. Ovaries very narrow and 

 translucent. 



2. Developing. Ovaries rather opaque and yel- 

 lowish with chromatophores on the surface. 



3. Nearly ripe or yellow. Ovaries larger than 

 in the previous stages, and yellow-orange. 



4. Ripe. Ovaries greatly distended, and drab 

 olive or brownish. 



5. Spent. Ovaries flaccid, from light green to 

 whitish. 



SPAWNING 



Spawning is in oceanic waters. Ewald (1965c) 

 reported sexually mature females from water about 

 10 to 15 fm. deep in the Ensenada de Calabozo, 

 Gulf of Venezuela, where maximum spawning 

 occurs in April tlirough June. In southern Cuba I 

 found ripe females in March through June and in 

 water 8 to 12 f m. deep. 



The presence of white shrimp 20 mm. t.l. in 

 Cuban waters during March seems to indicate that 

 P. schmitti may spawn tliere also in late February. 

 Da Silva (1965) in Baia de Sepetiba, Brazil, took 

 advanced larvae and juveniles in March and April, 

 which suggests that spawning takes place until 

 late summer in those waters. 

 SEX RATIO 



The general male- female ratio is about 1:1. 

 Ewald (1964) reported that in sami^les of sizes 



larger than 20 to 25 mm. c.l. from commercial 

 catches, the percentage of females was slightly 

 higher than that of males, but these samples were 

 from areas where females seemed to be larger 

 than males and, thus, more easily caught by the 

 nets employed. 



Postembryonic Development 



LARVAE, POSTLARVAE, AND JUVENILES 



To date, the larvae and postlarvae of this species 

 have not been studied. Juveniles 18 mm. t.l. have 

 short adrostral sulci, and, thus, may be separated 

 from those of the grooved Penaeus. Juvenile 

 P. schmitti frequently can lie separated also by 

 their light coloration. 



In the development of individuals sex caai be 

 determined easily when they reach 6 mm. c.l., 28 

 mm. t.l. At tills length the endopods of the first 

 pair of ijleojjods in males are much wider than 

 those in females, and the appendix niasculina, 

 although minute, is well formed. 



Development of the petasma and median anten- 

 nular flagellum in the males proceeds as follows : 

 at 16 mm. c.l., 80 mm. t.l., the petasma has two 

 rows of spines but lacks crests in the outer surface.. 

 At 17 mm. c.l., 83 ram. t.l., the petasma is still un- 

 joined and the median flagellmn bears long proc- 

 esses. At 21 mm. c.l., 100 mm. t.l., the petasmal 

 endopods first join, the lateral lobes have three or 

 four rows of spines, and the mediaai flagellum has 

 good numbers of long and a few short processes. 

 Shrimp as small as 23 mm. c.l., 108 mm. t.l., have 

 the petasma with the outer bands of spines fully 

 developed and the median flagellum with both 

 series of processes in large numbers. 



Progressive changes in the thelycum occiu's as 

 follows: in females 10 mm. c.l., 48 mm. t.l., the 

 thelycum bears low but distinct anterolateral 

 ridges on sternite XIV. At 17 mm. c.l., 83 mm. t.l., 

 the posterior protuberances, as well as the shelf 

 overhanging from sternite XIII, are clearly 

 formed and the ridges are prominent. At 21 mm. 

 c.l., 100 mm. t.l., the thelycum seems to he fully de- 

 \eloped and capable of holding the si^ermatophores 

 in place; only females with a carapace length 

 greater than 29 mm., however, have been found 

 l>earing spermatophores. 



\\\ incomplete investigation on the southern 

 shores of Camagiiey Province, Cuba, by Perez 

 Farfante et al. (1961) provided some data on 

 juveniles of P. schmitti. Individuals 20 to 50 mm. 

 t.l. were taken in estuarine water 14 to % fm. 



496 



U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



