Effects of Temperature on Survival Rate and Larval Development of Blue Swimming Crab, Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) Under Laboratory Conditions

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of temperature on survival rate and larval development of blue swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) under cultured conditions. Five different constant temperatures (26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 ^oC) were compared in triplicate. The larval were fed a live diet and examined and daily and death or molts recorded. The result showed that survival rate and larval development were significantly different among treatments due to temperature (P< 0.05). ). The highest and lowest larval survival rates until C1 stages were promoted by 30 ^oC (36.67 %) and 34 ^oC (12.22 %). The second best survival rate of C1 (31.11 %) was obtained at 28 ^oC. The lowest larval development (3.67 - 4.00 days) occurred at 30-34 ^oC (P> 0.05). At 26 ^oC and 28oC larval development of C1 took around 5.67 days (P>0.05).