Depth, temperature and salinity preferences of newly recruited penaeid shrimps in Kuwait waters

Associations between catches and depth, temperature and salinity data obtai ned from the 1994-97 preseason shrimp trawl surveys in Kuwait waters were a nalysed using cumulative distribution functions and overlap coefficients. N o single environmental factor had a controlling influence on shrimp distrib ution. Shrimp associations with the joint distributions of two environmenta l variables were stronger and more consistent over time than those with any single environmental factor. All three shrimp species examined in this stu dy were significantly associated with the joint distributions of depth and temperature, and depth and salinity, indicating depth as the most influenti al factor in structuring the shrimp distributions during the surveys. Metap enaeus affinis and Parapenaeopsis stylifera were distributed at similar ran ges of depth (8-15 m), temperature (26-31 degrees C) and salinity (35-41 pa rts per thousand), and had very high overlap coefficients. These two specie s can be categorized as co-occurring species in the sampled area. Penaeus s emisulcatus had the widest range of the three environmental variables inves tigated in this study, particularly depth (8-32 m) and temperature (24-32 d egrees C).