Comparison of growth curves of the Pacific white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei Boone, 1931 (Decapoda, Penaeidae) reared in earthen ponds with three different water sources

The growth of the Pacific white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei was analysed with data from nine earthen ponds in three aquaculture farms located at the mouth of the Gulf of California in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. Each farm has a different source of water supply: marine, estuarine-freshwater, and estuarine-hypersaline. Growth was estimated with a multi-model approach using five versions of the Schnute model. The parametrization was done with maximum likelihood as an objective function, and observing the variance criterion. The best model was selected via the Bayesian information criterion. The Schnute model reproduced the Von Bertalanffy model in the estuarine-freshwater conditions; the Logistic model in the estuarine-hypersaline situation; and the Gompertz model in the case of the marine water source. Differences in growth curves were corroborated via the Kimura ratio test. The difference in water quality was most evident in the factor salinity. The best performance was obtained with the estuarine-freshwater water source. The results support the hypothesis that postlarvae and juveniles exhibit better growth in brackish water than when supplied from a marine water source.