Bay scallops (Argopecten irradians) were discovered in 0.4- and 0.8-hectare earthen research ponds at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Station near Palacios, Texas. These ponds were filled with unfiltered Matagorda Bay water during April 1990 and were drained on 19 September and 8 October 1990, respectively. Mean surface water temperatures and salinities were 27.1-degrees-C and 27 parts per thousand for the 0.4-hectare pond and 26.6-degrees-C and 28 parts per thousand for the 0.8-hectare pond. Mean total shell lengths of bay scallops harvested were 37 mm in the 0.4-hectare pond and 53 mm in the 0.8-hectare pond. One thousand live bay scallops were moved to the bottom of another 0.4-hectare pond for overwintering, and four 6-mm-mesh plastic cages containing 50 scallops each were suspended in the pond. By April 1991, 50% of the caged scallops had survived, but survival was 0% by May. When the pond was drained on 6 December 1991, none of the 1,000 bay scallops stocked on the bottom had survived.

Spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) pond culture trials (52) were conducted on the central Texas coast from 1983 through 1988. All ponds were stocked with 2-day-old larvae at 45 000 to 2 075 000/ha, 9 to 28 days after initial filling and fertilization. Zooplankton, dissolved oxygen concentration, salinity, and temperature were routinely sampled throughout the culture period. Ponds were harvested 20 to 30 days after stocking. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to examine the effect of 38 independent variables associated with stocking density, the length of the culture period, fertilization, water quality, and zooplankton densities on percent harvest, number of fish harvested/ha, and kg of fish harvested/ha day-1 of culture. Mean temperature, mean polychaete larvae densities for the culture period, and minimum dissolved oxygen concentration observed explained 69% of the variance in percent harvest. Mean temperature, stocking density, and mean polychaete larvae densities in the second, third, and fourth week after stocking explained 79% of the variance associated with number of fish harvested/ha. Variation observed in kg of fish harvested/ha day-1 of culture was best explained (R2 = 0.76) by mean temperature, stocking density, and mean polychaete larvae densities in the first and fourth week after stocking. Polychaete larvae density, especially during the latter stages of culture, was statistically the most important factor associated with production of spotted seatrout from larvae to almost-equal-to 30 mm TL fingerlings.

An apparatus that provides a continuous inflow of seawater is described in which eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were maintained for 185 d in the laboratory with no mortalities. The effectiveness of this system during periods of high temperature and salinity may be useful in research and culture of eastern oysters.