The moult cycle of crustaceans is continuous and during different stages of this cycle, physiological, biochemical and morphological changes occur. Therefore, understanding the different stages of the moult cycle in the target species becomes critical for a wide range of biological studies. Here we describe the natural cycle changes in the freshwater shrimp Palaemon argentinus and identify two new substages of post-moult, B 1 and B 2 , that are substages occurring before the intermoult, a stage widely used in crustacean studies. Furthermore, we present a more detailed description of stages already known, describing modifications of the structures and its presence or absence in each stage, in conjunction with explanatory pictures. We also indicate the duration for each stage of the cycle, thus expanding our knowledge of the moult cycle and setogenesis for P. argentinus.
The physiological variations during the crustacean molting cycle have intrigued researchers for many years. Maintaining osmotic homeostasis in the face of hemolymph dilution and dealing with dynamic intracellular and extracellular calcium fluctuations are challenges these animals continuously confront. It has recently been shown that water channels present in the cell membrane (aquaporins) are essential for water uptake during premolt and postmolt. This study aims to investigate whether hypoosmotic shock and intracellular and extracellular calcium variations can lead to translocation of Aquaporin 1 (AQP‐1) from the intracellular region to the plasma membrane during premolt and postmolt, thus allowing increased water flow in these stages. For this, we investigate in vitro the rapid change of AQP‐1 positions in the abdominal muscle cells in the freshwater shrimp, Palaemon argentinus. Using cell volume analysis and immunohistochemistry, we show that hypoosmotic conditions and an elevation of the intracellular and extracellular calcium concentrations are concurrent with the translocation of AQP‐1 to the plasma membrane. These results indicate that calcium flux and hypoosmotic shock may be regulators of AQP 1 in the translocation process.
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