Juvenile white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus) can be effectively implanted with passive integrated transponder tags

Abstract

Connectivity among estuarine habitats can influence nekton vital rates, and studying these processes requires the ability to track individuals effectively. Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags have been used to evaluate movement of juvenile fishes in estuaries, yet this technique remains untested for penaeid shrimp. We evaluated survival, growth, and feeding behavior of juvenile white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus), an ecologically and economically important penaeid species along the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts, implanted with 8-mm PIT tags. Daily survival and tag retention observations and weekly length and weight measurements were made of tagged individuals (n = 18) kept in individual seawater tanks for 28 days, and compared with similarly housed untagged (control) individuals (n = 18). After four weeks, tagged and control shrimp were offered varying densities of a common estuarine prey item, grass shrimp (Palaemonetes spp.), in feeding trials. Tagged white shrimp exhibited 100% tag retention and an estimated probability of survival after 28 d that was not significantly different from control shrimp (0.81 and 0.94, respectively). We found no evidence of a relationship between tagging treatment or initial shrimp size on the probability of survival. Tagged shrimp demonstrated growth at rates that were not significantly different from control shrimp, and tagged and control shrimp exhibited nearly identical feeding rates on grass shrimp (Palaemonetes spp.) prey. Our results suggest PIT tag technology represents an effective tool to study the movement and vital rates of juvenile white shrimp during their estuarine residence.