Sexual characteristic development and sex identification of juvenile prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Macrobrachium rosenbergii (M. rosenbergii) is an important freshwater cultured prawn with sexual dimorphism. The mechanism of sexual characteristic formation and sex regulation has been poorly understood. One of the greatest challenges is how to verify the physiological function of sex determination and differentiation genes by animal experiments. This paper began with detailed description of the development of the primary sexual characteristics (genital pores and male appendages) of M. rosenbergii by morphological observation and sex molecular marker technique. Secondly, the histomorphology and histology of reproductive system of M. rosenbergii were comprehensively analysed and compared. This paper firstly gave a brief overview of the earliest period, about 2.5 cm in body length, for sex identification and animal experiments on sex determination and differentiation in prawn. This study provided a convenient and noninvasive method for sex identification in the early stage of juvenile prawns.