GROWTH-CURVES FOR MACROBRACHIUM-ROSENBERGII IN SEMI-INTENSIVE CULTUREIN BRAZIL

Four 0.02-ha earthen ponds at the UNESP Aquaculture Center, Jaboticaba l, Sao Paulo, Brazil, were stocked with newly metamorphosed Macrobrach ium rosenbergii post-larvae at 1.5 animals/m(2). After 8 mo, prawn den sity at harvest ranged from 0.3/m(2) to 0.8/m(2). Growth curves were d etermined for each population using von Bertalanffy growth functions. Asymptotic maximum length and asymptotic maximum weight increased as f inal population size decreased indicating that a strong density effect on prawn growth occurs in semi-intensive culture, even when populatio nal density varies within a small range of less than 1 animal/m(2).