A change of heart: cardiovascular development in the shrimp Metapenaeus ensis

The larval development of penaeid shrimp is among the most complicated in crustaceans. In Metapenaeus ensis, there are six naupliar, three protozoeal and three mysid larval instars, followed by postlarval development. Irregular heartbeat begins late in naupliar instar 6. Co-ordinated beating at 400–600 beats min −1 commences in the first protozoeal instar and continues throughout larval life. Initially, the contractile region is located more posteriorly in the cephalothorax and has a single pair of ostia, and the arterial distribution is limited to a single anterior vessel. In later mysid instars, a second cardiac pumping site develops posterior to, but connected with, the original site. This extension is more muscular, contains additional ostia and develops additional distribution vessels supplying the cephalothorax and abdominal areas. The original site is gradually merged into the new extension and only small refinements in the circulation occur in postlarval and juvenile life. Changes in physiological responses of the heart also occur throughout development. Responses to intra-pericardial microinjection of 5-hydroxytryptamine change drastically during development, as do cardiac responses to ambient hypoxia. Similarly, heartbeat of later juvenile instars is inhibited by injection of tetrodotoxin, while heartbeat of larval and early juvenile instars is not, suggesting that neurogenic regulation via the cardiac ganglion arises later in development. Our present studies attempt to integrate the anatomical and physiological changes in the development of the crustacean heart.