Effect of lower salinities on growth and survival of early juveniles of the King prawn Penaeus latisulcatus Kishinouye under laboratory conditions

Early juveniles of the King prawn Penaeus latisukalus reared in 34.12 ppt tolerated lower salinities of 10 to 25 ppt without acclimatisation, whereas cent percent mortality was recorded in 0 ppt and 40% in 5 ppt. In the case of prawns acclimatised to salinities on 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 ppt, the percentage of survival during one month rearing was 6.7, 40.0, 73.3, 93.3 and 86.7 respectively. In terms of growth per month, the prawns reared in 15-25 ppt salinities recorded a higher growth of 7.7 to 9.5 mm as against 4.1 to 5.7 mm in 5-10 ppt. The significance of these experimental results in the context of farming of this species is briefly discussed