Growth and survival of selected marine and estuarine organisms employed as water quality monitors and cultured at various temperatures and light intensities in flow-through systems utilizing power-plant effluent.

Three invertebrate and 33 fish species were stocked in tanks and troughs in flow-through systems utilizing thermal effluent from the Cedar Bayou Electric Generating Station near Baytown, Texas. One major tank experiment was run employing sea catfish (Arius felis), Atlantic croaker (Micropogon undulatus), striped mullet (Mugil cephalus), and white mullet (Mugil curema) in open and closed-flow systems. Thirteen species were also cultured in open-flow troughs, and 31 species served as water quality monitors in open-flow tanks. Survival was observed, and growth was measured for most species. Culture potential was evaluated for 11 species. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity (conductivity), and gas saturation were measured 4 to 6 days a week in tanks and troughs. Almost all deaths were mechanically- induced. Major causes of mortality were lethally low dissolved oxygen concentrations and related water quality degradation brought about by restricted water flow through fouled pipelines, and gas supersaturation resulting from faulty pump plumbing.