Depth, temperature and salinity preferences of newly recruited penaeid shrimps in Kuwait waters

Abstract

Associations between catches and depth, temperature and salinity data obtained from the 1994–97 preseason shrimp trawl surveys in Kuwait waters were analysed using cumulative distribution functions and overlap coefficients. No single environmental factor had a controlling influence on shrimp distribution. Shrimp associations with the joint distributions of two environmental variables were stronger and more consistent over time than those with any single environmental factor. All three shrimp species examined in this study were significantly associated with the joint distributions of depth and temperature, and depth and salinity, indicating depth as the most influential factor in structuring the shrimp distributions during the surveys. Metapenaeus affinis and Parapenaeopsis stylifera were distributed at similar ranges of depth (8–15 m), temperature (26–31°C) and salinity (35–41‰), and had very high overlap coefficients. These two species can be categorized as co‐occurring species in the sampled area. Penaeus semisulcatus had the widest range of the three environmental variables investigated in this study, particularly depth (8–32 m) and temperature (24–32°C).