Journal Article
Comprehensive Analysis of Cyan Soft-Carapace and Red Hard-Carapace Color Variants in Procambarus clarkii: Muscle Quality, Carapace Pigmentation, and Tissue-Specific DGAT2 mRNA Expression
Silei Xia; Yunqing Liu; Jingyi Zhang; Ya Dong; Xiao Yuan; Kunyuan Hu; Shiping Yang; Zhuozhuo Ai; Mingyou Li; Guangtong Song; Hongyan Tian; Wuxiao Zhang; Aimin Wang
Fishes · Vol. 11, Issue 7 · pp. 393 · 2026
Abstract
Crayfish with cyan soft-carapace and red hard-carapace differ considerably in market value. To investigate the causes underlying this difference in shell color, we selected 120 healthy Procambarus clarkii of similar size (9–10 cm), equally divided by shell color and sex. Muscle quality, pigment deposition, and DGAT2 mRNA expression were compared between the two shell-color types. The results showed that: (1) Muscle hardness was significantly higher in red hard-carapace crayfish than in cyan soft-carapace crayfish (p 0.05). (2) A significant interaction between shell color and sex influenced crude fat and ash content (p 0.05), with no notable differences across groups. (4) The contents of astaxanthin, lutein, and β-carotene in the shell were significantly influenced by the interaction between sex and shell color (p