RECOVER MAP 3.2.4.6 Salinity Relationships of Epifaunal Species in Near-Shore Biscayne Bay

The pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum), supports a multi-million dollar industry in South Florida and provides a critical food resource for higher trophic level species in Biscayne Bay. Florida pink shrimp spawn offshore of the Dry Tortugas and the larvae migrate to critical nursery grounds in Florida and Biscayne Bays. Pink shrimp recruitment studies focusing on Florida Bay have shown a large degree of correlation between water quality/conditions and shrimp abundance. Specifically, salinity and temperature have been shown to have direct effects on the production of the pink shrimp nursery in Florida Bay. Therefore, understanding the physiological state and performance of pink shrimp, at different salinities and temperatures in Biscayne Bay is critical in predicting the effects of changing salinity and temperature on secondary productivity in, and the overall health of, the bay. This study investigated the effects of different salinity and temperature exposure scenarios on pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum) collected from Biscayne Bay. The purpose was to determine the optimum salinity and temperature conditions for pink shrimp as defined for performance measures (i.e. survival, development, growth). Preliminary testing showed that at 25 degress Celsius, significant differences (p=0.05) were found in the survival of post-larval pink shrimp at different salinities from the control (30 ppt). The lowest salinity at which there was no significant difference from the control was 10 ppt.