Waraporn Promwikorn, Pornpimol Kirirat, and Pinij Thaweethamsewee

pp. 765 - 772

Abstract

Molting is a phenomenon of shedding the old cuticle and re-generating the new one found in
crustaceans including shrimps and many other species of invertebrates. The molting cycle is a dynamic
process, composed of pre-ecdysis (premolt, D stage), ecdysis (E stage), postecdysis (postmolt, A-B stages), and
intermolting (C stage) stages. In healthy shrimp, molting cycles are repeated several times through shrimp
life in order to increase body size and mass (growth). In this paper we gather the knowledges and important
findings related to the molting cycle of crustaceans from the past until present, and highlight the physical
evidence of cuticular tissue that we used for molt staging in the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon. At the
end of this paper we summarize the easily observed criteria used for molt staging in the black tiger shrimp.