LABORATORY CULTURE OF THE 



GRASS SHRIMP 



Palaemonetes vulgaris 



by 



Thomas E. Bigford 



Environmental Research Laboratory 



United States Environmental Protection Agency 



Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882 



ABSTRACT 



Experiments have been undertaken to test the feasibility of hatching, 

 rearing, and breeding an in-laboratory population of the grass shrimp, 

 Palaemonetes vulgaris. Primary objectives include continual availability of all 

 life stages (for use in experiments or as food organisms) and comparisons of 

 lab-reared and field-collected animals. 



Systems have been designed for culturing the grass shrimp throughout its 

 life cycle. Larval survival percentages reached 70 percent in the beaker and 

 "hatching jar" culture systems. Up to 75 percent of these metamorphosing 

 larvae survived to adult stages. Both Artemia salina and the flake food Tetra 

 Marin were proven to be successful diets for P. vulgaris. 



Results indicate that P. vulgaris can be maintained and propagated in the 

 laboratory. Larvae hatched in the lab have been induced to produce normal 

 larvae within as little as 90 days. This generation time is apparently shorter 

 than the time in field populations. 



INTRODUCTION 



Most marine biology research efforts require a consistent supply of 

 experimental animals. Field-collected organisms often confer variabiUty due to 

 individual differences in life history, nutrition, etc. Many of these problems can 

 be controlled by culturing the animals under rigorous, well-documented 

 laboratory conditions. 



The purpose of this study was to develop and standardize laboratory 

 holding and culture techniques for the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes vulgaris 

 (Say). Establishment of suitable methods would permit testing of the 



206 



