Comparison of planktonic microbial abundance and dissolved oxygen consumption between the aquaculture ponds of mudskippers and shrimps in the Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam

Aquaculture of the mudskipper Pseudapocryptes elongatus has expanded rapidly over the past 10 years in the provinces of the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. The fish’s capacity for aerial breathing enables its farming in earthen ponds with no aeration or little water exchange. We compared the composition and abundance of algal and bacterial cells, the rates of oxygen consumption by microorganisms, and daily fluctuations in dissolved oxygen (DO)...