Tolerance of Juvenile Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus to Rapidly Decreasing Water Temperatures

• Published in: Journal of the World Aquaculture Society
• Main Authors: Whitehurst, Andrew, Robinette, H. Randall
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1994
• Subjects: Agronomy and Crop Science; Aquatic Science; Red drum; Sciaenops ocellatus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-7345.1994.tb00185.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1749-7345.1994.tb00185.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1749-7345.1994.tb00185.x

Abstract This study assessed the potential mortality of pond‐reared juvenile red drum Sciaenops ocellatus subjected to rapid declines in water temperature simulating cold front activity. Fish acclimated in an earthen pond at ambient temperature and photoperiod were introduced into a recirculating aquarium and biofiltration system when pond water temperatures decreased to 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, and 10 C. Fish were stocked according to size group into 10 aquaria containing filtered pond water at 9 ± 1‰ salinity and temperature matching the acclimation temperature. Fish were acclimated to the aquaria for 3 d, subjected to a 6 C decrease over 24 h, and then held for 72 h. No mortalities were observed in any trial. The results suggest that if juvenile red drum are maintained in water with salinity around 9‰, they should survive the passage of most cold fronts.