Polyculture of Macrobrachium rosenbergii and Notemigonus crysoleucas

A polyculture study was conducted in southwest Louisiana comparing production of Malaysian prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii , in monoculture and polyculture with Golden shiners, Notemigonus crysoleucas .
This test revealed stocking of shiners at 24.7/m² with prawns at 4.4/m² resulted in increased total pond production over monoculture of prawns at 4.4/m² with equal prawn yields in both systems and little increase in labor. Feeding rates were based on prawn biomass. Food conversion ratios ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 in polyculture and 0.9 to 1.1 in monoculture when total production was considered. Prawn production averaged 640 kg/ha in polyculture and 629 kg/ha in monoculture. Mean size of prawns was 19 g in polyculture and 20 g in monoculture. The polyculture of shiners with prawns added an average of 307 kg/ha of the bait fish to pond production.
Shiners did not compete seriously with prawns when stocked at these rates. This practice could result in added revenues to producers culturing these species together.