GROWTH OF PENAEUS-VANNAMEI ON SOILS FROM VARIOUS TEXAS SHRIMP FARMS, UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS

Penaeus vannamei postlarvae (150 mg mean initial weight) were cultured for 80 days in indoor tanks under without substrate or with pond-soil substrate from five Texas shrimp farms; all tanks were provided with natural seawater from the ship channel adjacent to Port Aransas, TX. F inal mean weight gain (MWG) of shrimp gain of shrimp for the various s ubstrate treatments ranged from 13.75 to 16.04 g. Shrimp growth on pon d-soil substrates in the laboratory was correlated with shrimp product ion in the ponds from which the soil samples had been taken. Ponds wer e classified as either 'good' or 'bad,' depending on their shrimp-prod uction history. MWG of postlarvae on soils from the 'good' ponds group was significantly greater than that for the 'bad' ponds group. These results demonstrate a substrate impact on shrimp growth independent of water source. In relatively stagnant commercial production ponds, the impact of substrate on shrimp production might be more pronounced tha n under the flow-through conditions employed in the experiment describ ed here. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.