Perfil de ecdisteroides en el ovario del camarón Palaemon serratus Pennant, 1777 a lo largo del ciclo reproductor

Ecdysteroids titres during the reproduction cycle in shrimp Palaemon serratus Pennant, 1777 The ecdysteroids ecdysone and 20-OH-ecdysone are steroid hormones found in arthropods, such as crus- taceans, which control their moult. This characteristic form of growth, as well as the particularities of its re- production (e.g., fecundation, spawning), involve simultaneous regulation of these two basic biological func- tions. These functions are hormonally regulated in a way similar to that of insects, for which the relationship between moulting hormones and reproduction hormones is already well known. With the aim of studying the profiles of the ecdysteroids ecdysone and 20-OH-ecdysone during the repro- ductive cycle in the shrimp Palaemon serratus Pennant, 1777, they were extracted from the ovaries and pu- rified. Subsequently, the hormones were quantified with an enzymoimmunoassay (EIA). Results confirm the extraction method's precision and accuracy; a variation in the overall level of ecdysteroids during the oogene- sis was also found, suggesting a relationship between these moult hormones and the vitellogenesis.