Different stages of the white prawn, Penaeus merquiensis de Man, were examined for microsporidian infection. The parasite was found only in adult female prawns exhibiting ovaries. The organism was not found in uninfected prawn with normal olive-green ovaries. Light and elecron microspical examination showed that spores and other stages of microsporidia have almost completely replaced the substance of the oocyte. Nongerminal tissues were not infected. Spores found in the digestive tract, abdominal musles, hepatopancreas, heart and gills were extracellular in location and did no have any histopathologic effect on these organs. The parasite completed its life cycle in the female gonads. Meronts, sporonts, sporoblasts and spores were found in abundance in the oocytes. The structure and development of the different stages were presented. A probable mode of transmission and life cycle of this microsporidian parasite was proposed.
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