Salinity effects on maturation, reproductive and life
span characteristics of four Egyptian Artemia populations
(International Study on Artemia. LXVIII)
A.D.
Baxevanis, N. El-Bermawi, T.J. Abatzopoulos, P. Sorgeloos-2004
Hydrobiologia,
513 (1-3): 87-100
Abstract:
Three
parthenogenetic Artemia populations, i.e. two coastal from Borg
El-Arab and El-Max saltworks and one from the inland Qarun Lake, and a
bisexual strain (Artemia salina) from the inland carbonate lake of
Wadi El-Natrun, all from upper Egypt were assayed for their response in 5
salinities (i.e. 35, 80, 120, 150 and 200 g l-1). The
experimental procedure was carried out under laboratory conditions, where
the effects of salinity on maturation and ten reproductive and life span
characteristics were investigated. The parthenogenetic Egyptian populations
are more euryhaline compared to the bisexual one. The two coastal
parthenogenetic populations appeared to be very similar in maturation rate
and reproductive output at all salinities tested. The inland asexual strain
showed a different reproductive response to the elevation of salinity from
the two coastal populations. Discriminant function analysis has proven to be
a useful tool in determining the differential response of closely related Artemia
populations. The bisexual population showed significantly lower reproductive
output compared to the parthenogenetic ones and performed best at 35 g l-1;
this is the first record of an A. salina population inhabiting a
carbonate lake. These findings may provide valuable information on Artemia
biodiversity in an area where very little is known. %
(Department
of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Faculty
of Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki,
Greece, Fax: +30-2310-998256, E-mail: tbaxevan@bio.auth.gr)