Population dynamics and production of a brine shrimp, Parartemia zietziana Sayce (Crustacea : Anostraca), in two salt lakes in westren Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Quantitative samples of P. zietziana were taken monthly for two years from Pink Lake and Lake Cundare. Shrimps were usually contagiously distributed. To reduce error, samples were stratified resulting in confidence limits of 40-50% for the mean population density. Despite this variability, stable trends emerged, and variation was not so great as to mask significant differences. Length-frequency analyses distinguished cohorts; a regression was established between length and dry weight, enabling growth to be estimated from samples. By combining growth with population densities in Allen curves, production was computed. In Pink Lake and Lake Cundare mean pro- duction was 11.3 and 1.0 g dry weight m-2 year-1 respectively. Generally there were two or three generations per year, but time and extent of recruitment were not predictable. Each generation suffered continuous mortality, the death of young shrimps accounting for most of the production. This mortality remains unexplained; there are no significant predators and salinity and temperature stress would occur only during summer.