Ramachandra Reddy P
Methyl farnesoate (MF), the predominant juvenile hormone-like compound found in crustaceans. In crustaceans, MF mediated growth was reported and succeeded in the laboratory, but was not done successfully at the field level. The present investigation is aimed to test the role of dietary MF on growth of crustaceans in the semi-controlled environment. To test this, MF was supplemented through commercial shrimp pellet diet to female freshwater crab Oziothelphusa senex senex (Oss) with a concentration of 10-9, 10-8 and 10-7 moles/crab in an every alternative day for about 40 days along with eyestalk ablated (ESX) and control groups. Dietary supplementation of MF enhanced the growth of female crab by inducing molt. The molt induction frequency found in this study as MF concentration 10-8 moles/crab > 10-9 moles/crab > 10-7 moles/crab ≤ ESX and recorded molt percentage of 25%, 12.5%, 10%, 7.5% respectively. Evidencing that the dietary MF supplementation induces growth in cultured crustaceans thereby increases the yield of the culture.
