Abstract
White shrimp Penaeus setiferus, were grown in monoculture or in polyculture with blue shrimp P. stylirostris, or striped mullet Mugil cephalus in 0.1-ha earthen ponds receiving heated effluent from the Houston Lighting & Power Company's Cedar Bayou Generating Station east of Baytown, Texas during 1978 and 1979. No detrimental effect either species on white shrimp survival or yield was found. Blue shrimp yield was greater than that of white shrimp in the same ponds. Total yield was increased by polyculture. An experiment was performed in which blue shrimp were stocked conventionally into ponds, or stocked in three successive increments (staggered stocking study). A preliminary experiment was made in 1978, followed by a more expanded version in 1979. Staggered stocking increased pond yields compared to expected values from the control pond yields. There was no detrimental effect of staggered stocking on shrimp survival. Pond salinities were much lower in 1979 than in 1978, associated with lower shrimp growth, survival and yield. A distribution study performed in the staggered stocking study ponds revealed that blue shrimp in mixed-size culture tend to segregate by size, and that small shrimp show somewhat different distribution patterns and temporal activity patterns than large shrimp.A related aquarium study indicated that the presence of large shrimp inhibits feeding activity of small shrimp, but that where food is not limited, the presence of large shrimp does not affect growth of small ones. Shrimp in the staggered stocking pond study exhibited a very wide range of sizes at harvest. Analysis of length-weight relationships revealed that a high condition factor, or degree of plumpness, was associated with the slowest-growing shrimp. All the organisms used also served as biological monitors of water quality. No detectable levels of pesticides were found in any of the cultured animals. The only heavy metal found in higher concentrations than in previous years at this site was chromium.
Ojeda, Jane Leslie Wickende (1983). Polyculture of penaeid shrimp in ponds receiving brackish heated effluent from a power plant. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -408621.