Effect of salinity on growth and survival of juvenile Indian spiny lobster,Panulirus homarus (Linnaeus)

Abstract

The spiny lobster, Panulirus homarus has recently captured much attention in India for fattening in marine cages due to itshigh demand in the international market. Water quality parameters play an important role in the production rate of commerciallobster mariculture. In the present study, juvenile lobsters (93.63 ± 0.4 g, mean ± SD; 41.66 ± 0.57 mm CL, mean ± SD)were grown in four different salinities (20, 25, 30 and 35 ppt) over a period of 80 d and significant differences (p<0.01) wereobserved in survival and growth. Growth was highest in 35 ppt salinity and progressively reduced at lower salinities. Althoughrearing in seawater of 35 ppt salinity has resulted in the best performance for P. homarus, its capacity to tolerate lowersalinities would provide greater opportunity to develop commercial aquaculture.