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Identity
Penaeus vannamei Boone, 1931 [Penaeidae]
FAO Names: En - Whiteleg shrimp, Fr - Crevette pattes blanches, Es - Camarn patiblanco

View SIDP Species fact sheet

Biological features
Rostrum moderately long with 7-10 dorsal and 2-4 ventral teeth. In mature males petasma symmetrical and semi-open. Spermatophores complex, consisting of sperm mass encapsulated by sheath. Mature female has open thelycum. Six nauplii, three protozoeal, and three mysis stages. Coloration normally translucent white, but can change depending on substratum, feed and water turbidity. Maximum size 23 cm, with maximum CL of 9 cm. Females commonly faster growing and larger than males.

Images gallery

Female broodstock (Photo: Briggs, M.)

Maturation tanks in Latin America (Photo: Briggs, M.)

Extensive ponds (Photo: Briggs, M.)

Harvesting (Photo: Briggs, M.)

Profile
Historical background
The first spawning of this species was achieved in Florida in 1973 from nauplii spawned and shipped from a wild-caught mated female from Panama. Following good pond results and the discovery of unilateral ablation (and adequate nutrition) to promote maturation in Panama in 1976, commercial culture of Penaeus vannamei began in South and Central America. Subsequent development of intensive breeding and rearing techniques led to its culture in Hawaii, mainland United States of America, and much of Central and South America by the early 1980s. From this time, the commercial culture of this species in Latin America showed a rapidly increasing trend (with peaks every 3 4 years during the warm, wet 'el nio' years), punctuated by declines co-incident with disease outbreaks during the cold 'la nia' years. Despite these problems, production of P. vannamei from the Americas has been increasing after declining from its earlier peak production of 193 000 tonnes in 1998 to 143 000 tonnes in 2000 it had grown to over 270 000 tonnes by 2004. Asia has seen a phenomenal increase in the production of P. vannamei. Although no production was reported to FAO in 1999, it was nearly 1 116 000 tonnes by 2004 and had overtaken the production of P. monodon in China, Taiwan Province of China and Thailand, due to a number of favourable factors. However, due to fears over importation of exotic diseases, many Asian countries have been reluctant to promote farming of P. vannamei, so that its culture remains officially confined to experimental testing only in Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines. Thailand and Indonesia both freely permit its commercial culture but have official restrictions, so that only SPF/SPR broodstock may be imported. Similarly, most Latin American countries have strict quarantine laws or bans to prevent importation of exotic pathogens with new stocks.

Main producer countries


The main producer countries of Penaeus vannamei are shown in the map, while the whole list include: China, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Tawian P.C., Pacific Islands, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, the United States of America, India, Philippines, Cambodia, Suriname, Saint Kitts, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Bahamas.

Main producer countries of Penaeus vannamei (FAO Fishery Statistics, 2006)

Habitat and biology


The whiteleg shrimp is native to the Eastern Pacific coast from Sonora, Mexico in the North, through Central and South America as far South as Tumbes in Peru, in areas where water temperatures are normally >20 C throughout the year. Penaeus vannamei live in tropical marine habitats. Adults live and spawn in the open ocean, while postlarvae migrate inshore to spend their juvenile, adolescent and sub-adult stages in coastal estuaries, lagoons or mangrove areas. Males become mature from 20 g and females from 28 g onwards at the age of 67 months. P. vannamei weighing 3045 g will spawn 100 000250 000 eggs of approximately 0.22 mm in diameter. Hatching occurs about 16 hours after spawning and fertilization. The first stage larvae, termed nauplii, swim intermittently and are positively phototactic. Nauplii do not feed, but live on their yolk reserves. The next larval stages (protozoea, mysis and early postlarvae respectively) remain planktonic for some time, eat phytoplankton and zooplankton, and are carried towards the shore by tidal currents. The postlarvae (PL) change their planktonic habit about 5 days after moulting into PL, move inshore and begin feeding on benthic detritus, worms, bivalves and crustaceans.

Production
Production cycle

Production cycle of Penaeus vannamei

Production systems

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Vannamei Versus Monodon in India


A Long Discussion from the Shrimp List
The Indian Government is likely to approve the farming of the western white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, soon! Indias shrimp production has stagnated at around 150,000 metric tons annually. The introduction of P. vannamei would help shrimp farmers reduce costs and increase production. A.J. Tharakan, a member of the board and former national president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India, said, The Agriculture Ministry appears to be in favor of introducing the new variety. It will draw up the guidelines...with the National Development Fisheries Board, or NDFB, which is responsible for the management of Indias fishery resources. Currently Indias shrimp farmers produce the giant tiger shrimp (P. monodon), which has higher production costs and lower yields than vannamei. Vannamei costs $2.29 per kilogram to producehalf the cost of monodon! Farmers can produce 20 tons of small to medium vannamei per hectare, but only 2-3 tons of large monodon per hectare.

The Shrimp List


The prospect of permitting vannamei farming in India stimulated a long discussion

on the Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers): Satish (skbodapati@yahoo.com): The giant tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), the most popular farmed species in India, is falling out of favor with shrimp farmers, not because of crop failures, but because it is expensive to produce and market prices for it have collapsed. It seems that everything is set for vannamei farming to take off in India. Sujeet Kumar (dhruva_shining@yahoo.co.in): Yes, it is true that monodon production is suffering, but this does not mean that one should switch to vannamei. One should keep in mind that vannamei farming is not without problems. If you research this topic, youll discover that wherever vannamei is farmed, disease problems arise. Many countries farm vannamei. By switching to it, we would lose our leadership in monodon farming and have to compete with countries like China and Thailand. We made a mistake a few years back by importing monodon seedstock from Thailand. It brought whitespot to India. We should not import vannamei because it isnt native to our waters. Monodon farming has suffered from bad management. Hatcheries dont follow the best practices. Farmers try anything that looks promising, without getting the proper guidance. We all must take responsibility for the current panic with monodon farming. Krishan Murthy (murthy_hyr60@yahoo.co.in): In Thailand, monodon slow growth syndrome (MSGS) was noticed only after vannamei was introduced. Researchers say slow growth syndrome is due to IHHNV, but farmers argue that IHHNV has been in Thailand for more than ten years, and that there was no problem with monodon slow growth until vannamei was introduced. There might be a growth suppressing factor introduced with vannamei. If so, wherever vannamei is introduced, it could have an adverse effect on native species. Researchers should look into this and give the farmers an answer.

Dallas Weaver (deweaver@scientifichatcheries.com): There is apparently more than one strain of IHHNV. One strain I saw in monodon didnt transfer to vannamei, but showed up on a standard test. It also didnt seem to have any impact on either species. Rajendra Damle (drrsda@hotmail.com): It is very important not to loose focus and mix issues like leadership, sentiments and presumptions into the discussion. Regarding Indias leadership in monodon farming, even a cursory look at production figures makes it clear that India was never a leader in monodon production. As a matter of fact, India was a latecomer to shrimp farming. It was not our leadership, but the preeminence we accorded to monodon over other species because of its suitability and profitability. This situation has changed dramatically because of whitespot, loose shell syndrome (LSS), falling prices and stiff competition from vannamei in international markets. The advent of specific pathogen free (SPF) broodstock and the inherent attributes of vannamei, along with advances in its culture technology, have made mindboggling production possible at very low costs. High production costs, diminishing selling prices, the absence of quality seed, high incidence of disease, and frequent crop failures will make monodon culture in India unviable sooner or later. Already, an increasing number of farmers have refrained from stocking this season because of falling prices across India. It is very important to note that farmers sustained the onslaught of WSSV primarily because monodon was commanding exorbitantly high prices in international markets. MSGS and LSS have made the situation worse because they strike in the middle and late stages of growout, while whitespot usually strikes in the first month when the farmer has less money invested in his crop. Vannamei farming has spread to most of Asia. Until now, no ecological damage, apart from the inconclusive tie to MSGS, has been attributed to it. There are and always will be pros and cons to every issue, but it is wrong to jump to a hasty conclusion based on hearsay. To demonize vannamei and say that it would

damage the ecology and monodon farming is downright hypocritical and highly irresponsible because WSSV, MSGS and LSS have already caused enough damage to monodon farming in India. The current situation is on the verge of getting out of control. It might sound pessimistic, but continuing with monodon will surely spell doom for the Indian shrimp farming industry. We must acknowledge the fact that nothing is permanent; the days of $10.21 a kilogram for 30-count monodon are long gone and the world has moved on to vannamei. Also, since vannamei is cheaper to produce, it opens the door to our vast domestic market. It is high time that we abandon purely dogmatic, bookish and fruitless talk. We need to do a reality check and make some hard policy decisions without prejudice or presumption. With proper import regulations and a framework of rules, permission must be given to everyone who wants to culture vannamei without further delay. P. indicus could have been an alternative to monodon, but it fell out of favor with the Indian farmer long ago. Time is running out for shrimp farming in India, and vannamei seems to offer a beacon of hope. Saji Chacko (chacko.saji@gmail.com): I am sure the so-called pro-monodon saviors of the Indian shrimp farming sector are chasing unknown demons. No farmer is against farming of monodon. Show us a way to produce monodon successfully and profitably. Where is the SPF broodstock for monodon? Has anybody developed a low cost feed for monodon? Do we have a foolproof mechanism to produce jumbo size monodon? Job Villaruel (jovi_tech@yahoo.com): Farmers need more information so that they can make these decisions on their own. Maybe we should look at indicus again. Farmers still know how to grow it, but now there are no hatcheries for it. Kalyanaraman (mkalyanaraman2003@yahoo.co.in): The heat generated by the debate on monodon and vannamei is, to a certain extent, melting the ice jam in the Indian shrimp farming industry.

Indian Shrimp farming, characterized by consistently inconsistent production and market price, has shaken the confidence of corporations, entrepreneurs and professionals, both physically and financially. Outbreaks of incurable diseases have destroyed our professional pride and the farmers confidence. Best management practices, biosecurity and sustainability have become topics of seminars and workshops, but have not been implemented at the farm level. Avaricious corporations, greedy entrepreneurs, opportunistic professionals, luring chemical suppliers, glorified feed boys, technicians from overseas, eccentric farmers and perplexed regulating authoritiesall are responsible in one way or another for the state of affairs today! In the beginning, indicus was the champion of the Indian shrimp farming industry. It was replaced by monodon. Vannamei is in the race now! Change is nothing new to Indian shrimp farmers. They have seen nothing but boom and bust. Scientifically, with regard to susceptibility of diseases (under field conditions), there seems to be very little difference between monodon and vannamei. Love India! Grow Shrimp!! Long Live Indian Shrimp Farming!!! Jim Wyban (jim.wyban@gmail.com): The safest way to introduce vannamei to India and avoid the risk of exotic disease introduction is to import certified SPF broodstock from the USA. There is no scientific evidence of any slow growth pathogen resident in USA-produced SPF vannamei. Exhaustive comparisons of the production economics of vannamei versus monodon in Thailand and elsewhere show a clear and significant advantage (higher production, reliable production and higher profits) by growing vannamei. Vannamei is now accepted in all world markets, including Japan. The future of shrimp farming will be based on production of top quality products (clean, safe and nutritious) at a low cost. The best method for farmers to reduce their production costs and increase reliability is through use of high health PLs produced from domesticated SPF vannamei broodstock. Kalyanaraman (mkalyanaraman2003@yahoo.co.in): Dr. Jim Wyban, to

substantiate your claim on the performance of imported SPF vannamei broodstock, would you please provide the names of some people in Thailand who might provide the following information: 1. How long has Thailand been using the SPF vannamei seed from the USA? 2. Are the yields from this seed consistent? 3. Have any trials been run to determine how SPF seed compares to ordinary seed? 4. Do you have crop summaries that provide the following information? Stocking density Size at stocking Area stocked Duration of crop Size at harvest Survival Feed Conversion Ratio Yield Cost of production per kilogram of shrimp Market price Number of crops per year Jim Wyban (jim.wyban@gmail.com): The following table is from my manuscript that appeared in the May/June 2007 issue of the Global Aquaculture Advocate. The numbers were generated from many discussions with farmers in Thailand and represent my attempt at quantifying the difference between vannamei and monodon farming in Thailand. The profits from vannamei farming were almost three times greater than those for monodon.

Comparison of P. monodon and P. vannamei Production in Thailand

P. monodon Density in Postlarvae Stocked Per Square Meter Crop Duration in Days Harvest Size in Grams Yield in Metric Tons Per Hectare Crop Value in USA Dollars Per Hectare Crop Costs in USA Dollars Per Hectare Production Profit 40 to 50 110 to 140 22 to 28 8 $45,000 $32,000 $13,000

P. vannamei 120 to 200 105 to 120 21 to 25 24 $96,000 $60,000 $36,000

Eric De Muylder (eric.de.muylder@skynet.be): There are many misconceptions regarding the term SPF. SPF doesnt guarantee that shrimp are disease free. It only means that they are free of certain known diseases. It is possible that SPF vannamei carry diseases that it has been resistant to for ages, and those diseases could affect other species or even the same species from another region that has not been in contact with the pathogens. I suggest a quarantine with imported vannamei broodstock or PLs and local species in the same tank. That will show you if the imported broodstock is disease free, which is likely, but also if the local species (monodon, indicus) is suffering from something. Has anyone on the list done this test? Dallas Weaver (deweaver@scientifichatcheries.com): The problem with that test is the source of the animals. Where will you find clean or SPF monodon? Using wild, apparently healthy animals may just transfer some pathogens to your clean SPF vannamei. I believe that Jim Wyban has SPF monodon along with his SPF vannamei so his SPF animals have already been tested against monodon and apparently didnt have anything that would make the monodon status non-SPF.

In terms of vannamei versus monodon, perhaps we should note that vannamei is a real garbage gut that will eat almost anything. Monodon is a lot more carnivorous and requires higher protein feed. Full size vannamei will filter 50-micron-size organisms and bacterial/algal flocks out of the water column. They will also rise off the bottom to eat rotifers in the water column, which gives them an ecological advantage under normal pond rearing conditions. I dont understand how they do it, but they can strip the water column of rotifers very quickly. BONDADA (bon4sri@yahoo.com): Besides the many advantages cited by Jim Wyban and others for vannamei, the biggest reason why it spread to Southeast Asia and the Middle East (Iran) was the availability of SPF broodstock from the USA. In Saudi Arabia, National Prawn Company has been running a breeding program for indicus for the past five years. If any private companies or public institutions want to launch SPF indicus in India in collaboration with National Prawn Company, please contact us at bondada@robian.com.sa or gmo@robian.com.sa. Dallas Weaver (deweaver@scientifichatcheries.com): There seems to be a misunderstanding about the value of SPF and SPR (specific pathogen resistant) broodstock. If you are running a sloppy system with no controls, contaminated water input from other farms discharges, which contain more pathogen species than there are resistance strains, SPF will do you no good at all. If you run a minimal water exchange system and filter the input water to remove all organisms larger than 50 microns and have a reasonable water supply, using SPF and SPR broodstock and postlarvae will at least allow you to get a clean start. If you are good, you will stay clean and produce a bumper crop of very healthy animals. If you want consistent results, it is best to run a clean system with SPF and SPR seed (SPR if you need resistance to a pathogen endemic in your area that is not removed by filtering or water treatment). Without SPF and a lot of biosecurity, producing consistent postlarvae is problematic. Without a reliable supply of postlarvae, the farms economics are

destroyed. Most people underestimate the economic significance of reliability. Just a few failed crops can put a farm out of business and the farm owner into the poorhouse. Its a lot more cost effective to cut your risks with SPF seedstock. BONDADA (bon4sri@yahoo.com): At National Prawn Company in Saudi Arabia, which has been operating a 3,500 hectare shrimp farm since 2004, we compared normal seedstock with SPF seedstock under field conditions. In 2007, we stocked 630 million SPF indicus fry and 77 million non-SPF fry. We concluded that biosecurity and SPF fry were the key factors for our companys sustainability. In 2007, we produced 12,500 metric tons of shrimp and hope to increase that to 35,000 tons by 2010. Its time for hatcheries in India to move away from their dependence on wild broodstock. Philippe Leger (p.leger@inve.be): With assistance from the National Fisheries Development Board, India is going to set up a specific pathogen free seed multiplication center for monodon in Andhra Pradesh as part of a joint venture with the USA-based Moana Technologies. The $7.6 million center will be located near Sompeta in Srikakulam District. In Andhra Pradesh, over the last decade, shrimp have been hit hard by the whitespot virus, shrinking the industry to 24,000 hectares from a high of 78,000 hectares. Nagaraj Jayaram (nagaaa72@yahoo.co.in): Its indeed nice to hear that Moana Technologies in partnership with the Indian government is starting an SPFmonodon center in India. Ive heard that earlier efforts to produce SPF-monodon have failed. Why? Was it because of failed biosecurity during growout or the cost of SPF seedstock? Eric Pinon (list@serviceaqua.com): Yes, some past ventures have failed, but I think Moana Technologies is different for a number of reasons:

First, past efforts were made with much less understanding of shrimp genetics and without the vannamei experience as a model. Moana Technologies has been working silently on its SPF-monodon project for more that seven years. Most of its monodon lines have been bred for several generations in captivity. Moana is not only producing SPF animals; it is also improving the animals with genetic selection programs. It is reported to have assembled a monodon shrimp library exceeding 120 SPF genetically different families. This probably gives them the broadest array of genetic resources of any monodon breeding company in the world. I think Moana will be able to protect its genetic lines from poachers. Here is a long-term investment thats intended to revive monodons popularity as a farmed species. Its being carefully monitored by several regional authorities and governments. It certainly should not be ignored! Durwood Dugger (duggerdm@bellsouth.net): Folks youre complicating the SPF issue. In my opinion the decision to use SPF stock (regardless of the species) is a simple one. If you have a biosecure culture environment, SPF stock will certainly significantly reduce bad performance, diseases and economic loss. Ah, but you must have a biosecure environment! You need to understand biosecurity and something about shrimp viral diseasesparticularly whitespotin order to assess whether purchasing SPF seedstock is economically feasible for a specific farm. Whitespot is endemic in most crustacean species all over the world, especially in shrimp farming areas. Its carriers include all kinds of crabs, freshwater shrimp, isopods, and small waterborne crustaceans such as wild penaeid postlarvae, mysid shrimp, and perhaps even copepodspretty much any crustacean. If you have an open shrimp farm (no barriers to whitespot carriers) and pump from an estuary with less than 125-micron filtration, chances are you will eventually experience a whitespot infection whether you use SPF stock or not. If this is typical of your shrimp farms description (nonbiosecure), you might be better off putting your resources into extensive and comprehensive disease testing of the

broodstock and seedstock from your local hatchery, assuming this option is less expensive than buying certified SPF stock. If you are inland and away from estuaries and other bodies of water, use well water as your farms water source, and dont have other shrimp farms within ten miles, then SPF stock may be your cheapest insurance. It can reduce risks and return higher yields. Basically your seedstock quality, whether SPF or not, is never any better than the risks related to your farms background pathogen levels. Contemplating using SPF seedstock without having first implemented an effective and well-tested biosecurity plan for your shrimp farm is simply putting the cart before the ox.
Marine industry plans to introduce vannamei shrimp
INDIA - India produces mainly black tiger shrimps; processing facilities are operating at less than one-third capacity. Its marine industry is planning to introduce vannamei shrimp, a native species from South America, to increase production that has remained stagnant at around 150,000 tonnes annually.

Vannamei culture yields 20 tonnes per ha, against the 2-3 tonnes that the black tiger variety produces.

India produces mainly black tiger shrimp and processing facilities are running at only about 30% of their capacity. Asian export rivals, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, have already introduced this variety and have seen their production rise. India needs to look at alternatives and the vannamei variety is the best bet, says Ravi Reddy, president of the Seafood Exporters Association of the Tamil Nadu region. According to Reddy, China produces 650,000 tonnes every year, Thailand 450,000 tonnes, Indonesia 400,000 tonnes and Vietnam 350,000 tonnes with over 90% of the total produce being vannamei shrimp. Meanwhile, the prices of Indian black tiger shrimps have dropped by $1-10 (about Rs40-400) a kg in the last two months.

Coupled with the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, earnings of shrimp exporters here have taken a hit. G. Mohanty, president of the Orissa region of the Association, says that though Indian black tiger shrimps are now well accepted in international markets, the aquaculture business remains under pressure. A shift to vannamei could mean higher yields and lower costs of production, he says.

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