WINTER CULTURE OF Penaeus vannamei IN PONDS RECEIVING THERMAL EFFLUENT AT DIFFERENT RATES

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Abstract
Penaeus vannamei were cultured from 3 November 1978 to 10 April 1979 in eight 0.1‐ha ponds at the Texas A&M mariculture facility located at Central Power and Light Company's Barney M. Davis Power Station in Corpus Christi, Texas. Four treatments were established using 3 flow rates of thermal effluent (high, medium, and low) and 2 feeding rates (3 and 4%). Survival, growth, and distribution of shrimp within ponds were monitored using cast‐net sampling. The low‐flow ponds suffered 94% mortality during the first major cold front when temperatures dropped to 5.2°C. Survival increased strongly with each increase in flow rate to a maximum of 33.7–82.3% in high‐flow ponds. Low‐temperature mortality of P. vannamei appeared to begin below 8°C regardless of acclimation and to occur at temperatures as high as 12°C depending on acclimation. Growth rates among treatments ranged from ‐0.03 to 0.06 g/day with the highest rate found in the high‐flow ponds with 4% feeding rate. A regression of growth rates on mean temperatures for all ponds fed at the 3% rate indicated growth rates of 0.00 g/day at 15.9°C, 0.02 g/day at 20°C, and 0.05 g/day at 25.0°C. The 4% feeding rate treatment yielded greater survival, growth, food conversion efficiency, digestive gland index, and spermatophore production than the 3% feeding rate treatment. Cast‐net catches of shrimp artificially declined below 21°C, apparently due to increased burrowing activity. The distribution of P. vannamei within ponds indicated a preference for deeper waters during the day and a more even distribution at night.
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