In order to understand the muscle nutrient characteristics of the sword prawn Parapenaeopsis hardwickii,the nutritional composition and quality of muscles from the wild and cultured sword prawn were investigated and analyzed by biochemical analysis methods.The results show that the crude fat content of wild group(0.89%)was significantly lower than that of cultured group(1.12%),while the crude ash content of wild group(1.44%)was significantly higher than that of cultured group(1.31%).No significant difference in moisture and crude protein contents of fresh muscles was found between wild(79.42% and 17.94%,respectively)and cultured group(79.28% and 17.95%,respectively).18 kinds of amino acids were found in muscles from wild and cultured groups,and there was no significant difference in the content of 9 kinds of amino acid between wild and cultured groups,while in other 9 kinds of amino acids,the amino acid content of cultured group was significantly higher than that of wild group.Total amino acid(TAA),total essential amino acid(EAA),total non-essential amino acid(NEAA),total delicious amino acid(DAA),and total shrimp flavor amino acid(SAA)content of cultured group(88.08,30.53,47.39,34.47,and 21.72%,respectively)were significantly higher than those of wild group(83.42,29.69,43.59,32.54,and 21.11%,respectively).The essential amino acid index(EAAI)and the ratio of branched chain amino acid to aromatic amino acid(F value)of cultured group(69.10 and 2.12,respectively)were significantly higher than those of wild group(66.41 and 2.07,respectively).The saturated fatty acids(∑SFA)and poly-unsaturated fatty acids(∑PUFA)relative content of cultured group(39.60% and 36.64%,respectively)were significantly lower than those of wild group(41.95% and 39.51%,respectively),while the mono-unsaturated fatty acids(∑MUFA)relative content of cultured group(23.76%)were significantly higher than that of wild group(18.54%).The EPA+DHA relative content of wild group(28.23%)was significantly higher than that of cultured group(25.66%),while no significant difference was observed in the EPA+DHA absolute content of muscle between wild and cultured groups.Therefore,the sword prawn is nutritional,delicious,and artificial culture did not cause abundant accumulation of fat in muscle;on the contrary,it improved protein nutritive value of the muscle.