Abstract
The brown shrimp,Farfantepenaeus aztecus, is the major component of the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery, and it is critical that we understand its environmental requirements. Brown shrimp spend a large portion of their post-larval (PL) and juvenile life within estuaries distributed along salinity gradients and yet our understanding of the salinity tolerance of various age groups is limited. A series of 48-hr bioassays were conducted in which various ages ofF. aztecus (PL-10, PL-13, PL-15, PL-17, PL-20, and PL-23) were acclimated from a salinity of 26‰ to 1‰, 2‰, 4‰, 8‰, 12‰, and 26‰ in order to determine their tolerance to these salinities. Finally, PL-80.F. aztecus were transferred directly from 25‰ to 2‰, 4‰, and 8‰ waters to study the effects of rapid salinity reductions on juvenile survival. Survival of 10-and 13-day-old PLs was significantly, different from the control (26‰) for all salinities tested. Survival of PL-15 shrimp and older was significantly lower than survival of the controls at 1‰ and 2‰ but similar to the control at all other salinities tested. A 4-wk growth trial was conducted with juvenile shrimp at 2‰, 4‰, 8‰, and 12‰. There was no significant difference in survival among treatments, although shrimp maintained at 8‰ and 12‰ grew significantlymore than shrimp maintained at 2‰ and 4‰. There was no growth difference between shrimp at the two low salinities or between shrimp at the two high salinities. Survival of juveniles transferred directly from 25‰ to various salinities were 100% at 25‰, 94.2% at 8‰, 67.3% at 4‰, and 63.5% at 2‰. These results suggest that PL-13 and younger brown shrimp would have a better chance of survival by delaying entry into estuaries susceptible to rapid salinity declines. The brown shrimp juveniles would, be more densely distributed in areas with salinities greater than 4‰ than in salinities less than 4‰. Although food availability, and bottom type also affect shrimp distribution survival and growth, salinity may also greatly affect the shrimp and its fishery.
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Saoud, I.P., Davis, D.A. Salinity tolerance of brown shrimpFarfantepenaeus aztecus as it relates to postlarval and juvenile survival, distribution, and growth in estuaries. Estuaries 26, 970–974 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803355
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803355