University Of Tehran Press Pollution 2383-451X 12 1 2026 01 01 Aggregative Indexes as Tools for Assessing Water Quality in Aquaculture: A Case Study from Nayarit, Mexico 205 220 105148 10.22059/poll.2025.397354.2998 EN Kenia Sarai Arce Navarro Escuela Nacional de Ingeniería Pesquera, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit. Carretera a Los Cocos km. 12, Bahía de Matanchén San Blas, Nayarit, México Gloria Marisol Castañeda Ruelas Laboratorio de Investigación y Diagnóstico Microbiológico, Facultad de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. Blvd. de las Américas - Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, 80013 Culiacán, Sinaloa, México Maribel Jiménez Edeza Laboratorio de Investigación y Diagnóstico Microbiológico, Facultad de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. Blvd. de las Américas - Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, 80013 Culiacán, Sinaloa, México Francisco Javier Valdez González Escuela Nacional de Ingeniería Pesquera, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit. Carretera a Los Cocos km. 12, Bahía de Matanchén San Blas, Nayarit, México Journal Article 2025 06 21 Nayarit, is a leading aquaculture state in Mexico, so evaluating the physicochemical characteristics of the water is essential for monitoring the region's aquaculture systems. For this, the objective was to evaluate the hydrological and ecological suitability of water in shrimp production. Physical and chemical variables (dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, turbidity, and salinity) were measured at 15 pumping water points during the winter and summer seasons. The Hydrological Aptitude Index (HAI) was calculated weighing the parameters from highest to lowest according to their importance for shrimp development. The ecological suitability was assessed following the guidelines of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) for Ecological Criteria for Water Quality compliance. The results indicated that the parameters dissolved oxygen (2.2 to 10.3 mg/L), temperature (24 to 35 °C) and pH (7.3 to 9.1) were identified as significant predictors of water quality according to the Mann-Whitney test (p < 0.05). Winter offered the best conditions for shrimp; the HAI classified hydrological suitability from requiring little management to having excellent quality (6 - 10) in 66.7 % of the samples. Although, a lack of correlation with shrimp productivity is shown in the Spearman test (p > 0.05). According to CCME, ecological conditions rarely or sometimes deviate from desirable levels (65-94) at 53.3% of sites. This research sets a precedent for the current state of aquaculture tributaries in Nayarit and proposes the use of quality indices as a tool for the comprehensive analysis of water suitability for Litopenaeus vannamei production. https://jpoll.ut.ac.ir/article_105148_3db1bc07168a781d2536f8e11dcb2a33.pdf