Holthuis (1980) listed 48 species of Macrobrachium that are consumed as food and hence of economic importance. Among the numerous species of Macrobrachium, it is M. rosenbergii that has been widely studied and cultured. A number of manuals on the seed production and culture of M. rosenbergii has been published which describes the seed production and grow-out techniques for the species (New, 2002; Cuvin-Aralar et al, 2011a, 2011b). However, there are limited references available on the domestication and culture of other species of Macrobrachium. In China, aside from M. rosenbergii, they have domesticated their own native species of oriental river prawn M. nipponense and have successfully produced them in culture (Weimin & Xianping, 2002). The success in the culture of M. nipponense in China has demonstrated the potential of other Macrobrachium species for culture. In Vietnam, experiments on seed production and culture of M. nipponense were also conducted to develop the commodity into a high value enterprise (An et al., 2003). Macrobrachium amazonicum, a native species in South America was also investigated for domestication and culture (Moraes-Riodades & Valenti, 2004). In India and Pakistan, Macrobrachium malcomsonii or the monsoon river prawn is being cultured using wild-caught seeds and there were attempts to produce post larvae for stocking in the hatchery (Kutty et al., 2000). 

Both Macrobrachium lar (Fabricius, 1798) and M. mammillodactylus (Thallwitz, 1872) are indigenous to the Philippines. Like other species of prawns, they are commercially exploited and sold in the local market in the municipalities where they are caught. Both are considered “large” species by Short (2004). The same author describes in detail the morphological characteristics of the two species. Among the easily distinguishable features are the rostrum and the second cheliped. In summary, M. lar has a short rostrum in fully developed males. There are 7-10 dorsal rostral teeth and the 2-4 ventral rostral teeth. The second chelipeds are unequal with protective setae present in all segments of the cheliped.The merus is much shorter than the chela but longer than the carpus. Early specimens of M. lar (1908 to 1909) were obtained from the provinces of Benguet, Mindoro, and Cebu (Chase and Bruce, 1993). M. mammillodactylus has a short to medium rostral length with the dorsal carina generally straight with upturned tip with 9 to 18 dorsal teeth and 2-6 ventral teeth. The second pair of cheliped is isomorphic in shape and maybe subequal or equal in length. The merus is shorter than the carpus which is in turn distinctly shorter than the chela (Short, 2004). Early specimens of this species were found in San Juan and Pasig Rivers by R.P. Cowles in 1914 and in Aringay River, La Union by D.G. Frey (Chase and Bruce, 1993).

The earliest published attempt at larval rearing of M. lar was by Atkinson (1977) but he was unable to obtain full metamorphosis to post larvae. Recently, Lal (2012) was able to successfully obtain a few PL of M. lar in studies conducted at the University of South Pacific. Subsequent studies involved salinity and temperature requirements for the larval rearing of this species, again Fiji (Lal et al, 2012). The larval rearing of M. mammillodactylus remain unstudied (Short, 2004) and there are also no records available in the literature of attempts to close the life cycle of this species.