A response-surface analysis of the relative importance of the temperature, salinity and body weight on the respiratory metabolism of the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931)

We used a response-surface analysis to determine the importance of different factors affecting the resting routine metabolic rate (QO₂) of the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. The oxygen consumption rates were estimated using a multi-factorial design with 28 combinations of different salinities (15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 psu) and temperature (20, 25, 30 and 35 °C) values. The response-surface analysis produced a quadratic function showing that temperature more profoundly affects the oxygen consumption rate. Response-surface curves were generated to predict the optimal conditions resulting in oxygen consumption to better understand the successful growth of this species.