Physical and chemical aspects of the habitat of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium americanum (Spence Bate, 1868) (Decapoda, Palaemonidae)

Physical and chemical aspects of the habitat of Macrobrachium americanum (Spence Bate, 1868) were measured between 10 and 12 h at the bottom of the sampling stations every two months in a year's cycle. Temperature ranged from 20.73 to 35.69°C; dissolved oxygen from 1.99 to 6.5 mg/l and from 10.6 to 150% of oxygen saturation; salinity from 0.2 to 1.03; pH from 7.25 to 9.19; Turbidity from 24.4 to 123.3 NTU; alkalinity from 141.8 to 358 mg/l and total hardness from 156.6 to 751.9 mg/l. Nitrates, total ammonia, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead were not detectable. Potassium ranged from 2 to 13 mg/l and iron was ≤0.8 mg/l. These findings will help the development of techniques for the production of M. americanum and suggest that this species is a stronger candidate for large-scale production than M. rosenbergii, where water alkalinity and total hardness are high.