Abstract

OCANA-LUNA, Alberto; HERNANDEZ-BATUN, Gabriela  and  SANCHEZ-RAMIREZ, Marina. Juveniles abundance and distribution of Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives 1891), F. duorarum (Burkenroad 1939) and Litopenaeus setiferus (Linnaeus 1767) in Laguna Madre, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Hidrobiológica [online]. 2008, vol.18, n.3, pp.199-208. ISSN 0188-8897.

The Penaeid shrimp planktonic juvenile distribution and abundance from Laguna Madre were analyzed, based in samples collected in the months of October 1997, January, May and July 1998 with a conical net of 50 cm diameter and 505 mesh size, with an adapted flowmeter; moreover water salinity and superficial temperture data were recorded. The size among species was compared with a variance analysis (ANOVA) and a multiple ranks test (SNK). Farfantepenaeus aztecus was the most abundant species with 84.5% of the total abundance, following by L. setiferus with 10.6% and F. duorarum with 3.4%. The abundance of F. aztecus and L. setiferus was greatest during the winter. Significant differences were observed between the sizes of juveniles of F. aztecus (11.7 mm) and L. setiferus (11.8 mm) with respect to the size of F. duorarum (11.0 mm) (F = 7.81, p = 0.05; SNK = 0.71, p = 0.05; SNK = -0.83, p = 0.05).

Keywords : Shrimp juvenile; Penaeidae; coastal lagoon; Gulf of Mexico.