The diet of frozen grass shrimp (P. varians) was compared to similar grass shrimp that had suffered either boiling, drying at 60°C, or freeze-drying by lyophilization at -40°C. In experiment 1, cuttlefish fed the frozen shrimp were significantly larger (P \ 0.05) at the end of 10 days and at the end of the experiment, compared with those fed the boiled or dried shrimp. Growth rates were also higher for cuttlefish fed the frozen shrimp, compared with the remaining two. Growth rates were also higher for cuttlefish fed the frozen shrimp, compared with the remaining two. In experiment 2, there were no differences in weight (P [ 0.05) between cuttlefish fed the frozen or the freeze-dried shrimp, whereas cuttlefish fed the dried shrimp were smaller at the end of the experiment. Growth rates of cuttlefish fed the dried shrimp were lower, compared with those for cuttlefish fed the frozen and freeze-dried shrimp, with no significant differences (P [ 0.05) between them. Cuttlefish fed freeze-dried and frozen shrimp showed a higher trypsin activity compared to animals fed boiled and dry (60°C) shrimp. A higher proportion of absorbed energy was channelled into biomass production in animals fed frozen and freezedried shrimp (56% and 43%, respectively) than for animals fed oven-dried (60°C) or boiled shrimp. The heat treatment suffered by the shrimp, either dry or wet, negatively affected diet quality, probably due to denaturation, and loss (by boiling) of proteins and amino acids. Additionally, the heating processes may have oxidized the lipids to a large extent, contributing to the loss of the polar lipids (polyunsaturated fatty acids), which are essential for cephalopods as for other organisms. Freeze-drying by lyophilization (negative temperatures) did not affect the nutritional quality of the shrimp.