ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the research work on broodstock nutrition in captivity for different species and also the accumulation of knowledge since the early 1970s. Interest in studies on reproduction of penaeid Crustacea grew in the 1970s with the advent of mariculture. In the wild, this biological process is successful when a variety of foods are available in the benthos. A comprehensive model of the dynamics of nutrients during oocyte formation in decapod crustaceans is a prerequisite, or at least an excellent, tool in discussions relating to dietary requirements. Research on Penaeus indicus nutrition and reproduction contains the maximum information obtained during the 1980s. The hepatopancreas is a metabolic crossroads where lipids vary in quantity and in quality according to absorption, synthesis, catabolism and transfer to tissues. Vitamin E has a potential role as an antioxidant able to prevent free-radical-mediated tissue damage.
