Abstract: In order to explore the suitable temperature and time for waterless live transportation of Litopenaeus vannamei, this paper investigated the low dormancy temperature and determined the survival rate at different time periods of simulated transportation under 4 and 10 ℃. The muscle quality and physiological stress indexes were analyzed in four states: Control group, dormant group, transport  group and recovered for 30 min group. The results indicated that the dormancy temperature of Litopenaeus vannamei was (10.0±0.2) ℃. The survival rates of two temperature groups were both 100% within 12 h of simulated transportation and lower than 30% after 36 h. The effects of different transport temperatures on muscle quality indexes were not significant (P>0.05). Except for the cooking loss rate, the effects of transport stress on moisture, crude protein and crude fat content at the same temperature were not significant (P>0.05). Compared with the control, the contents of muscle glycogen, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly (P<0.05) changed after 24 h of simulated transportation at both temperature groups, and none of them could be restored to the control level after recovery. Litopenaeus vannamei can be transported without water by means of low temperature-induced dormancy, and 10 ℃ is suitable for short-distance transportation within 18 h, while 4 ℃ can be selected for long-distance transportation.