The annual reproductive cycle of two species, Upogebia major (de Haan 1841) and Austinogebia wuhsienweni (Yu 1931), of the female mud shrimp from the west coast of Korea was investigated using histology. The collected samples were divided into adult and juvenile groups to understand the mature period of age class based on the carapace length (CL). Juvenile Upogebia (CL<25 mm) were mostly inactive gonad with early (62%-100%) and late (10%-38%) development stages during the year, whereas the adult shrimp showed a seasonal pattern of gonad maturation (CL≥25 mm). The early and late developmental stages of oocytes were observed in adult Upogebia from November to March and mature eggs appeared from April to October. In adult Ausitnogebia (CL≥15 mm), fully grown oocytes were consistently observed during the study period, in which the ripe stage was found between January and June. On the other hand, most juvenile Austinogebia (CL<15 mm) maintained an immature state in the gonad. Both species of the mud shrimp reproduced from ovigerous females in the adult population and their egg-bearing period was distinguished from January to April for U. major and from July to September for A. wuhsienweni.

Although mud shrimp (Upogebia Major) provides benefits on the tidal flat ecosystem, it is causing the mass mortality of Manila clam (Tapes philippinarum) and large economic loss to the aquaculture farmer due to spreading in the entire coastal clam farm area of the West Sea of Korea. In this study, a mud shrimp blocking box for cultivating clam was tested to prevent the mud shrimp from invading the habitat of the clam. To determine the effect of the blocking box, the growth characteristics of the clams under various culture conditions were investigated. The shell length, total weight, condition index, the presence of mud shrimp in the box, and the soil decay in the box were examined according to whether the clams were raised in the box or in natural state, whether the box is covered with a net or not and the gap size of the box. As a result, no significant differences in shell length, total weight, and condition index were found between the clam grown in the box and the natural state (P>0.05) without any evidence of invading of mud shrimp to the box. In addition, the soil inside the box was in good condition, not decayed. Therefore, using the mud shrimp blocking box, mud shrimp can be prevented from propagating to the habitat of the clam, thereby contributing to the normal production of the clam and thus to restoring the clam farming.