Artemia salina: an easily cultured invertebrate ideally suited for ecological studies

Abstract

The brine shrimp, Artemia salina, is a small marine invertebrate. Although not generally used in schools, it has many advantages as an animal for experimental investigation. It is widely available, cheap, and easily cultured. A large number of experiments can be devised to investigate such factors as the importance of salinity on egg hatching success rale, and the effects of temperature and density-dependent competition for food on growth rates. Observations can also be made on development and reproductive behaviour. This paper includes a general account of the biology of Artemia, instructions on how the organism may be cultured, the results of some experiments on the ecology and population biology of the species, and some suggestions for further studies.