The shrimp Palaemon serratus is a coastal decapod crustacean with a high commercial value. It is harvested for human consumption. In this study, we used Illumina sequencing technology (HiSeq 2000) to sequence, assemble and annotate the transcriptome of P. serratus. RNA was isolated from muscle of adults individuals and, from a pool of larvae. A total number of 4 cDNA libraries were constructed, using the TruSeq RNA Sample Preparation Kit v2. The raw data in this study was deposited in NCBI SRA database with study accession number of SRP090769. The obtained data were subjected to de novo transcriptome assembly using Trinity software, and coding regions were predicted by TransDecoder. We used Blastp and Sma3s to annotate the identified proteins. The transcriptome data could provide some insight into the understanding of genes involved in the larval development and metamorphosis. Organism/cell line/tissuePalaemon serratus/muscle adults individuals and pool of larvaeSexN/ASequencer or array typeIllumina HiSeq2000Data formatRaw or processedExperimental factorsDe novo transcriptome assembly of Palaemon serratus.Experimental featuresRNA was isolated from muscle of adults individuals and, from a pool of larvae. A total number of 4 cDNA libraries were constructed, using the TruSeq RNA Sample Preparation Kit v2. The obtained data were subjected to de novo transcriptome assembly using Trinity, and coding regions were predicted by TransDecoder. We used Blastp and Sma3s_v2 to annotate the identified proteins.ConsentN/ASample source locationArtabro Gulf (43° 22′00″N, 8°28′00′′’W) in the northwest of Spain.