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For growth to occur, shrimp must first periodically loosen the connectives between their epidermis and the extracellular cuticle; rapidly escape from the confines of this rigid cuticle; take up water to expand the new, flexible exoskeleton; and then quickly harden it with minerals and proteins. This molting process results in discontinuous size increases. At each molt, represented by vertical increases in size, water is replaced by tissue and the exoskeleton hardens. This moulting process is regulated by hormones, ecdysteroids (Chang, 1992).
Different stages of the moulting process
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