To recognize early signs of disease in shrimp, farmers need to pay attention to the color and shape of the shrimp’s shell, intestines, gills, and the amount of excess food in the pond…

Regularly monitoring and observing farmed shrimp is one of the basic important steps to help detect diseases early in ponds. Thanks to that, farmers can provide timely and effective treatment methods. Below, AquaKing will point out some characteristics and signs to recognize sick shrimp:

CRUST

Smooth or convex shell also shows the nutritional status of the shrimp. Shiny, thick, and firm shells show that the shrimp is nutritious. Sick shrimp often have protruding shells. If the number of shrimp with thin shells accounts for more than 5% of the shrimp in the pond, farmers need to pay special attention.

Abnormally shaped shells may be due to shrimp suffering from diseases such as ASDD or IHHNV; Shrimp with broken spines, broken antennae, worn-out swimming legs, crawling legs, and tail tips are often due to dirty pond bottoms; Black, brown, and white spots appear on the shell, usually due to bacterial infection or taura disease.

Swollen or broken shrimp appendages are often caused by bacterial infection from contaminated pond bottoms.

EXTERIOR COLOR OF SHRIMP

Normally the color of shrimp is related to the water’s environmental conditions. Shrimp living in shallow ponds or clear water tend to be darker than shrimp in deeper water or less clear water. However, a change in color can also be a sign of the shrimp’s health: The shrimp may be in shock or sick.

Shrimp shell color helps farmers observe signs of sick shrimp

• Shrimp turning red may be due to the release of carotenoid pigments due to necrosis of the liver and pancreas; Dead shrimp will also be red. Severely ill shrimp will have opaque white or reddish muscles, and the shrimp’s shell and legs will also turn red.
• Shrimp with red-brown or white spots along their backs are usually stunted and slow-growing shrimp. This color is due to the concentration of yellow-brown pigment. During incubation, the shrimp’s shell will often become harder and darker.
• If the shrimp has wounds, these will turn black or brown after a short time. When shrimp are injured, in addition to turning black, the appendages can also be affected. If shrimp appendages are infected by waste in the pond, they will be bent, broken in half or swollen.
• Shrimp’s tail turns white due to the following reasons: disease or high temperature. In case the temperature is too high, the shrimp will show signs of shock such as jumping out of the water.
• Shrimp with opaque muscles: opaque muscles in spots, streaks or opaque whole shrimp bodies are all warning signs of poor health status in shrimp.
• If shrimp is black like an old wound, it is likely a bacterial infection, which is often related to high organic matter in the water.

CREATURES CLOTHING ON SHRIMP

• One of the easily recognizable signs of a shrimp in poor health is the phenomenon of seaweed or the growth of microorganisms on the shrimp’s outer shell. Organisms clinging to shrimp shells leave residues that make the shrimp’s appearance mossy green or muddy.
• Shrimp have organisms attached to the outside of their shells, usually caused by bacteria, protozoans, or algae. The first two causes come from high organic matter content in water. The final cause is due to dirty pond water quality and not being treated carefully. Shrimp with black spots like old wounds are likely due to a bacterial infection, which is often related to high levels of organic matter in the water.
• If the shrimp is healthy, it can clean itself regularly. Just by molting, the moss and organisms attached to the surface of the shrimp’s body will disappear. For weak shrimp, self-cleaning and molting occur less, so people need to pay attention and observe.
• To deal with this problem, farmers need to regularly clean pond water because dirty water not only affects shrimp health but also increases the growth of organisms attached to shrimp bodies.

VARIATION IN SHRIMP’S gills

• Healthy shrimp gills are transparent white and very clean. If the gills change to yellow, brown or black, it is usually because the pond bottom is dirty and there is a lot of organic matter in the water. In addition, if there are white areas on the shrimp’s gills, it may be due to necrosis of the gills due to gas saturation in the water.
• Shrimp’s gills are brown due to weak shrimp’s self-cleaning process, so dirt sticks to the gills. In this condition, people can easily observe the nipple shell.
• Shrimp’s gills turn black when the gills are really damaged. A high accumulation of iron salts can also lead to black shrimp on the gills or inside the armor.
• Shrimp’s gills are pink, indicating that the shrimp’s living environment has low dissolved oxygen content, and farmers need to handle it promptly.

Changes in shrimp gills

CHANGES IN THE INTELLIGENT, HEPATOPE, PANCREA OF SHRIMP

• Shrimp intestines without or with very little food are a sign of sick shrimp or in the early stages of incubation.
• The red intestine may be due to the shrimp eating polychaete worms. If the red color is not caused by polychaetes, it is most likely a sign that the shrimp has eaten the bodies of dead shrimp in the pond.
• Healthy shrimp will have a golden brown or orange-yellow hepatopancreas. Squeeze out the liver fluid and you will see a thick, non-flowing, yellow-brown fluid with a characteristic slight fishy smell. The pale yellow liver capsule covers the lower half of the liver. The liver is as wide as the two edges of the gills and as long as the neck of the armor, with a very clear shape. From the outside, you can clearly see the rice grain-shaped stomach with a very prominent black/dark brown color.
• When shrimp are sick, the color and shape of the hepatopancreas can change. The liver may be atrophied, calloused and tough, and the liver may be pale yellow or white. This is a sign that your shrimp is suffering from hepatopancreatic disease.

EXCESS FOOD

• If the amount of food left over during the day is too much, it is one of the first signs that the shrimp in the pond is infected. However, the phenomenon of shrimp not eating can be caused by many different factors such as: environmental changes, shrimp being stressed…
• In any case, it is necessary to adjust the amount of food appropriately to avoid leaving leftover food to pollute the environment. Through the feeding sieve, the condition of the shrimp’s feces can be assessed. If the shrimp’s feces are long and uninterrupted, the shrimp is growing and developing well.

SHRIMP BLOOD COAGULATION TIME

Shrimp clotting time can determine whether or not bacteria are present in the blood. To check blood clotting time, take a few drops of shrimp blood with a needle and spread it on a glass slide then calculate the shrimp blood clotting time. For healthy shrimp, the blood clotting time is about 10 – 30 seconds. If the blood clotting time exceeds 30 seconds, it can show that the shrimp’s body is infected with bacteria.