Palaemonetes paludosus Surviving the CSO: A Predatory Assay to Measure Water Quality

Palaemonetes paludosus, also known as grass shrimp, live in brackish water and are good at breaking down decaying material. Grass shrimp are good ecological indicators of water quality which shows how humans have an impact on estuaries. The combined sewer overflow (CSO) is a sewer system that gathers runoff and untreated wastewater when treatment plants exceed their water capacity. The CSO releases the untreated water into the city's waterways causing there to be an impact on the quality of the water. The CSO introduces pollutants into the waterway harming the aquatic life. For this experiment, grass shrimp are being used as indicators to see how the CSO affects their health. We measured grass shrimp eating habits in the presence of CSO to detect if there will be a change.