Abstract
From March 195 through May 1968, semimonthly hydrological and biological samples were taken in a low salinity marsh bordering Trinity Bay in the Galveston Bay Estuarine System, Texas. The study area is the site of the proposed Wallisville Reservoir and this study sought to determine to what extent the area was utilized as a nursery ground for commercially important decapod crustaceans. Trawl, scane, and marsh net samples were used to determine the seasonal abundance and distribution of the brown shrimp (Penaeus azteous Ivas), the white shrimp (Penaeus setiferus Linn.) and the blue crab (Cailinectes sapidus Rathbun). Salinities within the study area are regulated by the discharge of the Trinity River. During the late spring of 1966 and in the spring of 1968, high Trinity River flow reduced salinities throughout the study area to less than 0.5%. The highest salinity recorded in the study area was 15.5% during a period of reduced Trinity River flow. Postlarval brown shrimp appeared in the samples during April in 1966, but were absent from samples taken during and after heavy flooding of the Trinity River in May 1966. In the spring of 1967, flood conditions did not exist and postlarval brown shrimp were first collected in March and peak recruitment of brown shrimp occurred in April. In the spring of 1968, flood conditions existed again and no brown shrimp were taken. White shrimp were first collected during July in 1966 and during May in 1967, and were most abundant during September and October of both years. The decline in abundance of white shrimp in the study area during both 1966 and 1967 coincided with water temperatures falling below 20??C.
Truesdale, Frank M. (1970). Some ecological aspects of commercially important decapod crustaceans in low salinity marshes. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -134135.