1 August 1999
DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CHILEAN POPULATIONS OF THE BRINE SHRIMP ARTEMIA (CRUSTACEA, BRANCHIOPODA, ANOSTRACA)
O. Zuniga, R. Wilson, F. Amat, F. Hontoria-1999
International Journal of Salt Lake Research, 8: 23-40
Abstract:
Hypersaline habitats in Chile, from marine solar salt pans to saline lagoons and pools in Andean salars, were prospected in search of Artemia populations. These saline ecosystems were characterized through physico-chemical parameters and ionic composition of their brines. Biometrics of cysts and nauplii, as well as morphometrics by using multivariate discriminant analysis for adult specimens evidenced that the Chilean populations of brine shrimp belong to A. franciscana. Cross-breeding results supported the former hypothesis of conspecific Chilean populations, and their differences with A. persimilis, also endemic to the New World, but restricted to Argentinean sites.
(Departamento de Acuicultura, Facultad de Recursos del Mar, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile)