ARTEMIA SALINA IN EL JADIDA SALTWORKS, MOROCCO

The brine shrimp Artemia salina was recorded for the first time in El Jadida saltworks, Morocco. Water temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen and depth, and their influence on brine shrimp occurrence, abundance and distribution in the period September 1995-April 1998 were recorded. We found that:

- Artemia occurrence is determined by salinity; high densities are reached in the crystallizers, and the species is absent or occasional at low and intermediate salinities;

- The salterns can be divided in two groups:

a northern area, with high levels of phreatic freshwater that reduces salinity, where Artemia disappears due to winter rainfall;

a southern area with clayish, less permeable soils, where Artemia is permanent and common in late spring-early summer.

(correspondence from F. Sadkaoui, Laboratoire d'Hydrobiologie, Groupe "Sciences de la Mer", Faculte des Sciences, Universite Chouaïb Doukkali, B. P. 20, El Jadida, Morocco)

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