Antony, J.; Sandeep, K.P.; Aravind, R.; Panigrahi, A., and Balasubramanian, C.P., 2019. Growth, survival, and osmoregulation of Indian white shrimp Penaeus indicus juveniles reared in low salinity amended inland saline groundwater and seawater. In: Jithendran, K.P.; Saraswathy, R.; Balasubramanian, C.P.; Kumaraguru Vasagam, K.P.; Jayasankar, V.; Raghavan, R.; Alavandi, S.V., and Vijayan, K.K. (eds.), BRAQCON 2019: World Brackishwater Aquaculture Conference. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 86, pp. 21–31. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Growth, survival and osmoregulation of Indian white shrimp, Penaeus indicus juveniles were assessed in two water types' namely inland saline groundwater (ISGW) and seawater (SW). Raw ISGW is deficient in potassium (K⁺) and causes poor survival of shrimp. Amended ISGW (Na⁺/K⁺ ratio – 44:1; Mg²⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio – 1.8:1) of salinities 5, 10, and 15 ppt were artificially prepared by mixing of different salts in freshwater. The SW of salinities 5, 10, 15, and 27 ppt were prepared from oceanic water. Juvenile shrimp (∼0.069 g) were stocked to triplicate 120 L tanks (30 shrimp per tank) filled with amended ISGW and SW of different salinities and reared for 45 days (average water temperature, 26.7±0.1°C). All shrimp survived the experimental duration in SW of 10 ppt and amended ISGW of 10 and 15 ppt. Survival was significantly lower in SW of 5, 15 and 27 ppt (75.5–81.1%), and that in amended ISGW of 5 ppt (91.1%) was similar to other treatments. Final mean body weight of shrimp (1–1.2 g) and other growth parameters was not affected by water types and salinities. Serum osmolality was significantly lower for juveniles in amended ISGW of 5 and 10 ppt over those reared in SW of similar salinity. However, the osmoregulatory capacity of juveniles did not vary between amended ISGW and SW of identical salinities. Iso-osmotic point of shrimp in amended ISGW and SW were 793.8 (26.5 ppt) and 779.2 mOsmol Kg^-1 (25.9 ppt) respectively. Tail muscle moisture content was significantly lower for shrimp in amended ISGW of 5 and 10 ppt, though hepatopancreas moisture contents did not vary between treatments. Penaeus indicus juveniles are efficient osmoregulators and exhibit typical euryhaline behaviour with identical growth parameters over a wide range of salinity. Data suggests that amended ISGW of Na⁺/K⁺ ratio ∼45:1 is suitable for P. indicus culture and commercial farming of the species is feasible at low and intermediate salinities.