The present study examined the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of oxytetracycline (OTC) in vannamei shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) after intra-sinus (10 mg/kg) and oral (10 and 50 mg/kg) administration and also investigated the net changes of OTC residues in the shrimp after the thermal, acid and alkaline processing methods. The hemolymph concentrations of OTC after intra-sinus dosing were best described by a twocompartment open model. The oral bioavailability was found to be 48.2 and 43.6% at doses of 10 and 50 mg OTC/kg, respectively. The peak hemolymph concentrations after 10 and 50 mg OTC/kg doses were 3.37 and 17.4 lg/ml; the times to peak hemolymph concentrations were 7 and 10 h. The elimination half-lives were found to be 15.0 and 11.5 h for the low and high dose, respectively. The residual OTC was rapidly eliminated from muscle with the elimination half-life value of 19.4 and 15.4 h, respectively, for the groups treated with doses of 10 and 50 mg/kg. The residual OTC levels in the muscle fell below the MRL (0.2 lg/g) at 72 and 96-h post-dosing at dose levels of 10 or 50 mg/kg, respectively. Residual OTC levels in muscle and shell were approximately 20-50% lower in the thermal treatment such as boiling, baking and frying. By the acid treatment, OTC residues were reduced to [80%, while those were reduced to around 30% by alkaline treatment.