This experiment was conducted to examine the effects of salinity fluctuation frequency on the growth, molting rate and hemolymph 20-hydroxyecdysone （20-HE） concentration for juvenile Fenneropenaeus chinensis with an initial wet body weight of 1.115 g±0.012 g. The salinity of the control treatment （represented by DO） was 28 throughout the experiment, whereas treatments D2, D4, D6 and D8 were subjected to different salinity fluctuation frequencies of 2, 4, 6 and 8 d, respectively. The range of salinity fluctuation was 4. The salinity in treatments D2, D4, D6 and D8 was kept at 28 for 2, 4, 6 and 8d, respectively; each original salinity was decreased abruptly to salinity 24, which first lasted for another 2 d and was then raised to its initial value 28. This constituted a salinity fluctuation cycle and afterwards the cycle repeated. It was found that： 1） The weight gain of shrimp in treatment D4 was 202.9% and significantly higher than that in treatment DO （P〈0.05）. The molting rate in treatment D2 was the lowest, while that in treatment D6 was the highest and significantly higher than those in treatments DO and D2 （P〈0.05）. 2） The hemolymph 20-HE concentration of shrimps in all treatments was at low levels and increased first gradually during the inter-molt period and then increased sharply. It reached a peak value during the pre-molt stage, and then decreased abruptly during the post-molt stage when the lowest level occurred. 3） During the post-molt stage, the hemolymph 20-HE concentration in treatment D2 was 7.47pg μL^-1 and significantly higher than that in treatment DO （P〈0.05）. There were, however, no significant differences in hemolymph 20-HE concentration among all five treatments during the inter-molt stage （P〉0.05）. During the pre-molt stage, the hemolymph 20-HE concentration in treatment D6 was significantly higher than that in treatment DO （P〈0.05）, whereas the hemolymph 20-HE concentration in treatment D2 was significantly lower than that in other treatmen
Experiments were conducted to examine the effects of salinity fluctuation frequency on the osmolarity, Na^＋-K^＋-ATPase activity and HSP70 of Chinese shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis ruth initial wet body weight of 1.460g±0.091 g. The salinity in the control group （DO） was 28 throughout the experiment, whereas treatments D2, D4, D6 and D8 were subjected to different salinity fluctuation frequencies of 2, 4, 6 and 8d, respectively. The salinity in treatments D2, D4, D6 and D8 was kept at 28 for 2, 4, 6 and 8d, respectively, decreased abruptly to salinity 24, lasted for another 2 d, and then was raised to its initial value 28. This was a complete salinity fluctuation cycle that afterwards repeated itself. After 32 days, the osmolarity in treatments D2, D4, D6 and D8 was significantly lower than that in treatment DO （P〈0.05）. There were significant differences in both muscle and eyestalks HSP70 expression among groups. The HSP70 expressions in muscle and eyestalks in group D4 were 61.4% and 57.0% higher, respectively, than that in the control group DO （P〈0.05）. There were, however, no significant differences in gill or hepatopancreas Na^＋-K^＋-ATPase activity between the treatments and the control.
Activities of hexokinase(HK),pyruvate kinase(PK) and levels of HSP70 were measured to evaluate the response of Litopenaeus vannamei to rapid temperature changes under controlled laboratory conditions.Shrimps were subjected to a quick temperature change from 27℃ to 17℃ for the summer case(Cold temperature treatment),or from 17℃ to 27℃ for the winter case(Warm temperature treatment).After 0.5,1,3,6,12,24,48,and 72 h of exposure time,shrimps were sampled and prepared for further analysis.The results showed that the effect of acute temperature changes on activities of HK was significant.Patterns of variations of the two glycolytic enzymes suggested that enzymes in the glycolysis cycle could adjust their activities to meet the acute temperature change.The HSP70 level increased in both cold and warm temperature treatments,suggesting that the rapid temperature changes activated the process of body's self-protection.But the difference in expression peak of HSP70 might be related to the different body size and the higher thermal sensitivity to temperature increase than to temperature decrease of L.vannamei.
