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Title: Emigration of penaeid shrimp from the once-through cooling lake of Cedar Bayou Steam Electric Generating Station, Baytown, Texas

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6063606

Migration and distribution of two decapod shrimp, Penaeus setiferus and P. aztecus, in the cooling-water system of a power plant on the Texas coast were investigated, with emphasis on the seaward emigration from the cooling lake. Samples were collected every two weeks for a year by straining water leaving the lake over a drop structure, trawling in the cooling lake, and flushed from the intake screen. Shrimp catches at the drop structure were positively correlated with the standing population in the cooling lake. Significantly more shrimp passed over the drop structure nocturnally than diurnally. Shrimp caught at the drop structure diurnally averaged either smaller or similar in size to the shrimp taken there at night. The passage of a cold front enhanced migration and initially increased and then reduced the mean size of shrimp passing the drop structure. Higher percentages of the shrimp population in the cooling lake emigrated near new moon than full moon. The moon-phase effects appeared to be due to the moon cycle itself rather than to the intinsity of moon light. Significantly more shrimp of both species emigrated during the hours of ebbing than incoming tide. As the lake surface was above high tide level, an endogenous timing mechanism rather than evironmental factors associated with tidal rhythms controlled this emigration pattern. A temperature drop of up to 0.23 C/hour significantly increased P. aztecus emigration.

OSTI ID:
6063606
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English