Les capacités osmorégulatrices chez la crevette bleue Litopenaeus stylirostris, au cours de l’ontogenèse

The ontogeny of osmoregulation was studied in the blue shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris in New Caledonia. The implication of branchial organs in ionic regulation was first demonstrated in juveniles by immunolocalization of three ion transporting proteins ( namely NKA, co-transporter NKCC1 and CFTR ) and ionocyte detection was done by means of electron microscopy. The role of the main ion transporting enzyme, NKA, was subsequently investigated during post-embryonic development using an integrative approach associating physiological, histological, immunological and biomolecular studies. Results obtained allowed us to propose a model of the osmoregulatory pattern in L. stylirostris based on weak regulation in the early stages, then progressively this species acquires the adult pattern of hyper-hypo-regulation after metamorphosis with the concurrent development of epipodites and gills. Strong NKA immunofluorescence and abundance of NKA transcripts in these two tissues compared to others organs suggest their functional implication in osmoregulatory processes. The results of this study allow us to increase our knowledge of the penaeid shrimp osmoregulation and to propose zootechnical measures to improve the animal physiological comfort. These propositions have been already tested during larval rearing trials, leading a two-fold-growth in 19 days-old postlarvae.