Introduction to Artemia Culture

Abstract

Artemia, the brine shrimp, is an excellent live food for cultivable aquatic species. It is in great demand for use in shrimp hatcheries, fish hatcheries and ornamental fish culture farms. The genus Artemia (Leach 1819) is a cosmopolitan taxon that has typically adapted to live in the stressful environmental conditions of higher saline habitats, such as salt lakes, lagoons and solar salt works all over the world (Vanhaecke et al. 1987; Triantaphylidis et al. 1998). Artemia populations have been identified in about 600 natural salt lakes and salt works along the coastlines of tropical, subtropical and temperate regions, and further survey efforts are being conducted to identify more Artemia biotopes (Bossier et al. 2004). Artemia franciscana is native to North, Central and South America (Bowen et al. 1985), while other Artemia species include Artemia persimilis in South America (Gajardo et al. 1999), Artemia salina in the Mediterranean Sea (Gajardo et al. 1999), Artemia urmiana in Lake Urmia, Iran (Triantaphyllidis et al. 1997; Manaffar 2012), Artemia sinica in China (Naihong et al. 2000), Artemia tibetiana in Tibet (Naihong et al. 2000) and Artemia sp. in Kazakhstan (Pilla and Beardmore 1994). Artemia has been introduced in Brazil, Australia (Geddes 1980), the Philippines, Thailand (Tarnchalanukit and Wongrat 1987), India, Sri Lanka (Hoa et al. 2007) and Vietnam (Baert et al. 1997). Artemia can withstand habitats whose salinity levels range from 10 to 340 g L−1, with fluctuating ionic compositions and temperatures (Van Stappen 2002). Artemia franciscana is a native strain from America, originating in the San Francisco Bay, California and the Great Salt Lake, Utah (Persoone and Sorgeloos 1980).