Neuropeptides play a critical role in regulating animal reproduction.In vertebrates,GnRH,GnIH and kisspeptin are the key neuropeptide hormones of the reproductive axis,however,the reproductive axis for invertebrates is vague.Knowledge on ovarian development of the mud crab,Scylla paramamosain,is critical for aquaculture and resources management of the commercially important species.This study employed Illumina sequencing, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and quantitative real-time PCR techniques to identify neuropeptides that may be involved in ovarian development of S. paramamosain.