Bahirdar University

College Of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

School Of Fisheries and Wildlife

Department Of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

Course Of Advanced aquaculture (Fsaq6021)

1st Year MSc. In Fisheries and Aquaculture

Review on Artemia Production for Fish Culture

By:
Name ID.No.

Tilahun Ayalew…………………………………………………. Bdu1401261

Submitted to: - Gashaw Tilahun. (PhD)

March, 2022

Bahirdar, Ethiopia
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents Pages
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. i

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv

ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................... v

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background and Justification ................................................................................................ 1

1.2 Objective: .............................................................................................................................. 2

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................... 3

2.1 Biology of Artemia................................................................................................................ 3

2.1 .1 Morphology and life cycle of artemia ........................................................................... 3

2.2 Ecology and Natural Distribution of Artemia ....................................................................... 5

2.3 Production Methodes of Artemia .......................................................................................... 7

2.3.1 Artemia production in controlled systems ...................................................................... 7

2.3.2 Feeding of Artemia ......................................................................................................... 9

2.3.3. Culture techniques of artemia ...................................................................................... 11

2.3.3.1. Stagnant systems ................................................................................................... 11

2.3.3.2. Open flow-through ................................................................................................ 12

2.3.3.3. Closed flow-through (recirculation) systems ........................................................ 12

2.3.4 Control of infections of artemia.................................................................................... 13

2.4 Harvest and Processing of Cultured Artemia ...................................................................... 13

2.5 Nutritional Value of Artemia .............................................................................................. 15

3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................... 17

3.1 Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 17

i
 3.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 18

4. REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 19

ii
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Directive animal densities under different culture conditions ...................................................... 10

iii
 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure1: life cycle of Artemia ....................................................................................................................... 3
Figure :2 Cyst in breaking stage. (1) Nauplius eye ....................................................................................... 4
Figure: 3 Embryo in ‘umbrella’ stage (left) and instar I nauplius (right). (1) Nauplius eye; (2) antennula;
(3) antenna; (4) mandib ................................................................................................................................. 4
Figure:4: Image of Adult male and female artemia ..................................................................................... 5
Figure 5: Uterus of oviparous Artemia filled with cysts. (1) Brown shell glands ........................................ 5
Figure: 6 Feeding strategy with cultured Artemia ...................................................................................... 10
Figure :7 Artisanal brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) cyst production in saltworks ............................... 15

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 ABSTRACT
The latest FAO report on The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020, which was launched
on World Oceans Day, reveals that 82.1 million tonnes of aquatic animals, 32.4 million tonnes of
aquatic algae and 26,000 tonnes of ornamental seashells and pearls were produced. Artemia is
used in the mass culture of different fish species. They are zooplankton, like copepods and
Daphnia, which are used as live food in the aquarium trade and for marine finfish and crustacean
larval culture. However, the lake’s cyst production is heavily influenced by freshwater inflow, and
the supply varies dramatically. The cost of good quality cysts fluctuates with supply and demand.
They are extremely euryhaline, withstanding salinities from 3 ppt to 300 ppt. They can even
survive short periods of time in freshwater, but cannot reproduce in it. Artemia survive temperat
ures ranging from 15 to 55 o c. Their modes of reproduction.is oviparity and ovoviviparity. Their
Cyst is 200 to 300 micrometers in diameter, depending upon the strain. Its external layer is a hard,
dark brown shell. Artemia cysts are best stored in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry
environment and, if possible, vacuum packed. Within 15 to 20 hours after being placed in seawater
at 28 o C. The main objectives of study were to review Artemia Production for Fish Culture. Its
life stages are First are the eggs or “cysts”, the babies “(nauplii), juvenile stage, finally the adult
stage. Artemia populations are found in throughout great salt lakes as well as inland water bodies.
In practice, when setting up an Artemia culture one should start by listing the prevailing culture
conditions and available infrastructure. The abiotic and biotic conditions relevant for Artemia
culture. Various factors may influence the feeding behavior of Artemia by affecting the filtration
rate, ingestion rate and assimilation, the quality and quantity of the food offered, the
developmental stage of the larvae and the culture conditions. Artemia cultivation techniques such
as open flow-through and stagnant systems, as well as good management practices and feeding
systems, are used to prevent disease and maximize artemia production for fish culture, as well as
properly harvest and process it at the desired level. the newly hatched Artemia nauplii
contains 50.6% protein, 25.7% carbohydrate, 14.2% fat, 9.4% ash and the energy value of 18.97
KJ g-1. Artemia has a characteristic as a non-selective filter feeder, which consumes anything that
enters its mouth.
Key words: - Artemia, Cyst, Fish, Production,

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 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background and Justification

The latest FAO report on The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020, which was launched
on World Oceans Day, reveals that 82.1 million tonnes of aquatic animals, 32.4 million tonnes of
aquatic algae and 26,000 tonnes of ornamental seashells and pearls were produced (FAO, 2020).

Artemia can survive in hypersaline environments where none of its predators are capable of
surviving. These environments suitable for Artemia do vary considerably in terms of ionic
composition, climatic conditions, seasonality, productivity, altitude, and other characteristics. It
has been shown to inhabit chloride, sulphate or carbonate waters, and/or combinations of two or
even three major anions (Lavens, 2018).

Comprehensive literature reviews on the use of Artemia as live food in fish and shellfish
Larviculture have been published by Léger et al., (2017) and Sorgeloos. (2000). Today, Artemia
is used in the mass culture of different sea bream species, sea bass species, wolf fish, cod, turbot,
halibut, flounder species and other flatfish, milkfish, sturgeon, different carp and catfish species
and whitefish species. The same is true for commercially important crustaceans such as several
shrimp and prawn species, crawfish, several edible crab species and lobster.

The brine shrimp (Artemia) is in the phylum Arthropoda, class Crustacea. Artemia are
zooplankton, like copepods and Daphnia, which are used as live food in the aquarium trade and
for marine finfish and crustacean larval culture. There are more than 50 geographical strains of
Artemia. Many commercial harvesters and distributors sell brands of various qualities.
Approximately 90 percent of the world’s commercial harvest of brine shrimp cysts (the dormant
stage) comes from the Great Salt Lake in Utah. However, the lake’s cyst production is heavily
influenced by freshwater inflow, and the supply varies dramatically. The cost of good quality cysts
fluctuates with supply and demand; buyers might expect to pay $12 to $40 or more per pound (1/2
kg). Normally 200,000 to 300,000 nauplii might hatch from each gram of high-quality cysts.
(Persoone et al., 2015).

Artemia are extremely euryhaline, withstanding salinities from 3 ppt to 300 ppt. They can even
survive short periods of time in freshwater, but cannot reproduce in it. Artemia survive
temperatures ranging from 15 to 55 o C (59 to 131 o F). They have two modes of reproduction.

1
oviparity (diapause cyst production) and ovoviviparity (live larvae release). However, when the
body of water where adult Artemia are living begins to dry up and salinities rise, embryos are
encased in a hard capsule, or cyst, so that they are protected and can hatch later when conditions
are better. The Cyst is 200 to 300 micrometers in diameter, depending upon the strain. Its external
layer is a hard, dark brown shell. Dry conditions cause the encysted embryo to enter a dormant
state, which allows it to withstand complete drying, temperatures over 100 oC. (212 o F) or near
absolute zero, high energy radiation, and a variety of organic solvents. The dehydrated cyst can be
stored for months or years without loss of hatchability. Only water and oxygen are required to
initiate the normal development of the Artemia embryo, but it does help the hatch rate to maintain
the temperature above 25 o C (77 o F) and place a light near the eggs. The durable, easily hatched
cyst makes Artemia a convenient, constantly accessible source of live feed for the finfish hatchery
operator. (Schumann, 2000).

Artemia cysts are best stored in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry environment and, if
possible, vacuum packed. Within 15 to 20 hours after being placed in seawater at 28 o C (82 o F),
the shell breaks and the prenauplius in E-1 stage appears. For the first few hours, the embryo hangs
beneath the cyst shell in what is called the umbrella stage. The newly hatched Artemia relies on
its yolk sac for nutrients because its mouth and anus are not fully developed. The pre-nauplius E-
2 stage is then released as a free-swimming nauplius called an Instar 1 nauplius. In this stage it is
brownish orange because of its yolk reserves. It uses specially modified antennae for locomotion
and later for food filtering. Approximately 12 hours after hatch it molts into the second larval stage
(Instar II) and starts filter feeding on microalgae, bacteria and detritus. The Artemia nauplius can
live on yolk and stored re-serves for up to 5 days or through the Instar V stage but its caloric and
protein content diminish during this time (Sorgeloos ,2000).

1.2 Objective: - The main objectives of the study was to review Artemia Production for Fish
Culture.

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 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Biology of Artemia
2.1 .1 Morphology and life cycle of artemia

Brine Shrimp go through different life stages. First are the eggs or “cysts”, second are the babies
called “nauplii”, the third is a juvenile stage where they look like mini adults, finally the adult
stage, where you can identify female and male. Brine Flies also go through life stages: eggs, larvae,
pupa, and adult. In its natural environment under certain conditions, Artemia produces cysts that
float at the water surface and are driven ashore by wind and waves. These cysts are metabolically
inactive and do not develop further as long as they are kept dry. Upon immersion in seawater, the
biconcave cysts hydrate and become spherical and, within the shell, the embryo resumes its
interrupted metabolism. After about 20 h the outer membrane of the cyst bursts (‘breaking’) and
the embryo appears, surrounded by the hatching membrane (Fig. 1). While the embryo hangs
underneath the empty shell (the ‘umbrella’ stage) the development of the nauplius is completed
and within a short period the hatching membrane is ruptured (‘hatching’), giving rise to the free-
swimming nauplius (Asem, 2010).

Figure1: life cycle of Artemia

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Figure :2 Cyst in breaking stage. (1) Nauplius eye

Figure: 3 Embryo in ‘umbrella’ stage (left) and instar I nauplius (right). (1) Nauplius eye; (2)
antennula; (3) antenna; (4) mandib

The first larval stage (instar I; 400–500mm in length) has a brownish-orange color, a red nauplius
eye in the head region and three pairs of appendages: the first antennae (sensorial function), the
second antennae (locomotory plus filter-feeding function) and the mandibles (food uptake
function). The ventral side is covered by a large labrum (food uptake: transfer of particles from
the filtering setae into the mouth). The instar I larva does not take up food as its digestive system
is not yet functional; it relies completely on its yolk reserves. After about 8 h, the animal moults
into the second larval stage (instar II). Small food particles (e.g., algal cells, bacteria, detritus)
ranging in size from 1 to 50m are filtered out by the second antennae and ingested into the now
functional digestive tract. The larva grows and differentiates through a number of moults; although
there has been considerable disagreement about the exact number of larval stages, generally one
naupliar, four meta naupliar, seven postmetanaupliar and five post larval stages have been
described (Hentschel, 2010).

4
Figure:4: Image of Adult male and female artemia

Figure 5: Uterus of oviparous Artemia filled with cysts. (1) Brown shell glands

5
2.2 Ecology and Natural Distribution of Artemia

Artemia populations are found in about 500 natural salt lakes and artificial salterns scattered
throughout the tropical, subtropical and temperate climatic zones, along coastlines as well as
inland. The distribution of these sites over the continents is very uneven, mainly reflecting
sampling and exploration activities. As such, it does not give a precise picture of the actual global
occurrence of Artemia. The decline of Artemia cyst harvests from the GSL in Utah, USA,
(Sorgeloos, 2000). has intensified the search for alternative resources, especially in inland lakes
that are sufficiently large and productive to justify commercial exploitation. As a result, several
sites, especially in continental Asia, are exploited occasionally or on a regular basis (with some
local investment), and these cysts are being used world-wide in aquaculture. The identity or
location of these sites has still not reached scientific literature, and attempts are seldom made to
perform a systematic characterization of the respective strains. A continued survey will
undoubtedly lead to the discovery of many more Artemia biotopes in different parts of the world.
Two critical factors determine the population dynamics of Artemia and its biogeographical
distribution: first, whether water body conditions allow the animals to survive throughout the year
and, secondly, whether or not the seasonality of the environment is predictable (Lenz 2003; Amat
et al., 2011).

The common feature of all Artemia biotopes is their high salinity. Salinity is without doubt the
predominant abiotic factor determining the presence of Artemia and consequently limiting its
geographical distribution. Its physiological adaptations to high salinity provide a very efficient
ecological defense against predation, as brine shrimp possess: a very efficient osmoregulatory
system the capacity to synthesize very efficient respiratory pigments to cope with the low oxygen
levels at high salinities the ability to produce dormant cysts when environmental conditions
endanger the survival of the species. Other variables (temperature, light intensity, primary food
production) may have an influence on the quantitative aspects of the Artemia population, or may
cause only a temporary absence of brine shrimp. For physiological reasons the salinity optimum
is situated towards the lower end of the salinity range, as higher ambient salinity requires higher
energy costs for osmoregulation. Ambient salinity also plays a role in cyst metabolism, as Artemia
cysts will only start to develop when the salinity of the medium drops below a certain threshold
value (Hould ,2000).

6
No Artemia are found in cold tundra or frost climates, as the year-round extremely low
temperatures preclude Artemia development. Most strains do not seem to survive prolonged
temperatures below 5°C unless in the form of cysts. The maximum temperature tolerated by
Artemia populations has repeatedly been reported to be close to 35°C, a temperature often attained
in the shallow tropical salterns that constitute a large part of the Artemia habitats. This tolerance
threshold is, however, strain dependent. Moreover, physiological adaptation of SFB Artemia to
high temperatures (40°C) after a number of generations in Vietnamese salt ponds has also been
reported (Clegg et al., 2001). As for salinity, temperature optima are difficult to define and are
strain dependent; in general, however, the optimum for Artemia is in the range 25–30°C. The
ametabolic dehydrated cysts are resistant to a wider temperature range than would ever occur in
nature. Artemia is a non-selective filter feeder of organic detritus, microscopic algae and bacteria.
The Artemia biotopes typically show a very simple trophic structure and low species diversity: the
absence of predators and food competitors allows brine shrimp to develop into monocultures

2.3 Production Methodes of Artemia

2.3.1 Artemia production in controlled systems

Artemia grows from nauplius to adult in 2 weeks, increasing in length by a factor of 20 and in
biomass by a factor of 500, thereby offering very high rate of production within a short period.
Artemia adults and preadults form an ideal food for prawn/fish juveniles in their nursery phase.
They can be intensively cultured under controlled conditions in the same fish/prawn nurseries in
order to have a ready availability of feed for juveniles and hence Artemia biomass production
under controlled environment gains more and more importance.

The ideal Artemia culturing technique suitable for large scale application in controlled
environment implies the following prerequisites: good oxygenation of the medium to allow
culturing at high density (thousands of animals per liter). Continuous circulation of the medium
to maximize food availability to the brine shrimp which are swimming continuously. Biomass
production under controlled conditions (intensive culture of Artemia from nauplius to adult stage)
can be carried out either in batch or in flow-through culture systems. In batch culture, no water
change is taken place whereas in the flow-through culture system, the culture water will be
renewed continuously with consequent removal of all particulate and dissolved metabolites. When
we come in to batch culture system of the various techniques, tested for high density culturing of

7
Artemia larvae from nauplii to adult in batch system, the air water-lift (AWL) operated raceway,
originally described by Mock to culture benthonic post larval Penaeus, proved to be the most
suitable. The construction and operation of the culturing tank is indeed simple. Furthermore, it has
been proven that high survival, acceptable growth rate and high production results can be obtained
in this method. Equipment’s used during this culture method was Air-water-lift raceway; plate
separator; filter screen system with filter bags of 200, 250, 350, 450/* m; transparency stick; pH
meter and balance. Material required Rice bran as fee (Baert.,2019).

Although tank-produced Artemia biomass is far more expensive than pond-produced brine shrimp
its advantages may, depending on the local condition, justify its application. year-round
availability of on grown Artemia, independent of climate or season; specific stages (juveniles,
preadult, adults) or prey with uniform size can be harvested as a function of size preferences of the
predator. quality of the Artemia can be better controlled (e.g., nutritional content, free from
diseases). High-density intensive culture techniques offer two main advantages compared with
pond production techniques. First, there is no restriction with regard to production site or time,
since the culture procedure does not require highly saline waters or specific climatological
conditions. Secondly, controlled production can be performed with very high densities of brine
shrimp, e.g. Several thousand animals perlitre versus a maximum of a few hundred animals per
liter in outdoor culture ponds. As a consequence, very high production yields per volume of culture
medium can be obtained with tank rearing systems. Since the early past years several super
intensive Artemia farms have been established, e.g., in the USA, France, the UK and Australia, to
supply local demand. Depending on the selected culture technology and implantation facilities,
production costs are estimated at US $2.5–12 kg-1 live weight Artemia, with wholesale prices
varying from US $25 to 100 kg-1 (Stephens, 2000).

In practice, when setting up an Artemia culture one should start by listing the prevailing culture
conditions and available infrastructure. The abiotic and biotic conditions relevant for Artemia
culture are: The best physiological performance, in terms of growth rate and food conversion
efficiency, is at salinities from 32 to 65 g l-1, depending on the cultured strain. For Artemia culture,
the use of natural seawater of 35 g l-1 is the most practical. Small adjustments in salinity can be
made by adding brine or diluting with tap water free from high levels of chlorine. Temperature
must be maintained between the specific optimal levels of the selected Artemia strain. For most

8
strains a common range of preference is 19–25°C. The quality of the culture medium is primarily
affected by excess particles as well as by soluble waste products such as nitrogenous compounds
(Chen et al.,2017).

2.3.2 Feeding of Artemia

Artemia is a continuous, non-selective, particle-filtering organism. Various factors may influence

the feeding behavior of Artemia by affecting the filtration rate, ingestion rate and/or assimilation:
the quality and quantity of the food offered, the developmental stage of the larvae and the culture
conditions. More detailed information about these processes is given in (Sorgeloos, 2000).

Before feeding brine shrimp to fish, rinse the nauplii under running water to remove salts and
metabolites that might harm the fish. You can then feed them to either freshwater or marine fish.
Growing brine shrimp are actually easy to feed since they are not fussy when it comes to their
food. One can feed them almost any type of food such as whey, yeast, commercial fry food,
soybean powder, wheat flour, fish meal, and even egg yolk. Brine shrimp survive in fresh water
for 30 minutes or longer, but unless you overfeed, the fish snap them up long before then. Selection
of a suitable diet Artemia can take up and digest exogenous microflora as part of the diet. Bacteria
and protozoans, which develop easily in the Artemia cultures, are able to biosynthesize essential
nutrients as they use the supplied brine shrimp food as a substrate. In this way they compensate
for possible deficiencies in the diet composition (Sorgeloos, 2000). The interactions with bacteria
make it a hard task to identify nutritionally adequate diets per se, and growth tests are difficult to
run under axenic conditions.

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Table 1: Directive animal densities under different culture conditions

As a consequence, nutritional composition of the diet does not play the most critical role in the
selection of diets suitable for high-density culture of brine shrimp. The criteria used generally
include availability and cost, particle size composition (preferentially 50mm), digestibility,
consistency in composition among different batches and storage capacity, solubility (minimal),
food conversion efficiency (FCE), buoyancy. Commonly used food sources used for artemia are
By-products from the food industry, Bacteria and yeasts, Dried algae, Microalgae.

Figure: 6 Feeding strategy with cultured Artemia

(1) Look through looking glass to turbid stick (or submerge stick in cylinder with appropriate
mesh). (2) Submerge turbid stick until contrast between black and white disappears. (3) Read dep
th of submergence in cm = T. During first week: T <15 cm: stop feeding and/or increase water
renewal; 15 cm <T 20 cm: maintain actual feeding ratio; T> 20 cm: increase feeding ratio and/or
add food manually. During next week: T <20 cm: stop feeding and/or increase water renewal; 20
cm <T<25 cm: maintain actual feeding ratio; T >25 cm: increase feeding ratio and/or add food
manually.
Feeding strategy Since Artemia is a continuous filter-feeding organism, highest growth and
minimal deposition of unconsumed food is achieved when food is distributed as frequently as
possible. When feeding SCP, algae or yeast, concentrations should be maintained above the critical

10
minimum uptake concentration, which is specific for the algal (or other) species and the
developmental stage of Artemia. Levels of dry feeds, consisting of fragments and irregular
particles, cannot be counted in the culture tank. Therefore, a correlation between optimal feed level
and turbidity of the culture water has been developed, whereby the feed concentration in a culture
tank is determined by measuring the turbidity of the water with a simplified Secchi-disc (Abreu-
Grobois, 2016).

2.3.3. Culture techniques of artemia

Depending on the objectives and the opportunities, different culture procedures for high density
intensive Artemia production may be applied. The final selection of the type of culture installation
will be subject to local conditions, production needs and investment possibilities. Decisions need
to be made as to: (a) whether or not the water should be renewed (open flow-through); and (b) in
the latter case, whether a particular water treatment should be applied (closed flow-through or
stagnant or batch system). There are many kinds of transition types, ranging from open flow-
through with 0% recirculation to closed flow-through with 100% recirculation. In reality, even at
complete recirculation, a small part of the culture water must be regularly renewed. The culture
system should be designed in such a way that the water quality can be maintained as close to
optimal as possible. This means that the concentration of particles and soluble metabolites should
remain minimal to prevent toxicity problems, proliferation of micro-organisms and interferences
with the filter-feeding apparatus of the brine shrimp.

2.3.3.1. Stagnant systems

Stagnant systems are the simplest concept for intensive Artemia culture: no wastewater evacuation,
filter systems or water treatment are involved. The culture is started in an aerated tank and biomass
is harvested after a reduced culture period. The main disadvantage is that high animal densities do
not allow for extended culture periods because of the degradation of the water quality. Successful
trials with 10 animals l-1 on micronized soya pellets yielded Artemia juveniles of 3 mm in length
and over 75% survival in 7 days (Dhont, 2012).

11
2.3.3.2. Open flow-through

A discontinuous or continuous renewal of culture water by clean seawater, with consequent

dilution of particulate and dissolved metabolites, will result in the best possible culture conditions
and highest production capacities. Application of an open flow-through culture technique,
however, is limited to those situations where large volumes of sufficiently warm seawater (or
brine) are available at relatively low cost, or where large quantities of algal food are available,
such as from effluents from artificial upwelling projects, tertiary treatment systems or intensive
grow-out ponds of shrimp. The water retention time is chosen so as to reach an optimal
compromise between efficient evacuation of wastewater and minimal food losses. A very simple
semi flow-through system has been developed by Dhert et al., (2007).

The system does not require the use of feeding pumps and involves minimal care. The pilot system
consists of six oval raceway tanks of 1 m3 and six reservoir tanks of the same capacity placed
above each culture tank. These reservoir tanks hold seawater and food (squeezed rice bran
suspension), and need manual refilling only once or twice a day. They are slowly drained to the
culture tanks, and flow rate is easily adjusted by means of a siphon of a selected diameter.
Retention time is at least 12 h. The culture effluent is drained using welded wedge filters as
described above. This technique involves minimal sophistication and appears to be very
predictable in production yields, which are between those obtained in batch and flow-through
systems (Dhert et al., 2007).

2.3.3.3. Closed flow-through (recirculation) systems

When only limited quantities of warm seawater are available, open flow-through systems cannot
be considered. High-density flow-through culturing of Artemia can only be sustained by
recirculating the culture water via a water treatment unit. This unit should be designed to remove
particles and decrease levels of harmful nitrogen components. Several suitable recirculation
systems have been designed, proving that more than one solution exists to treat effluents from
intensive Artemia cultures. However, at least one option will be most appropriate to a given
situation when local conditions are taken into account. In general, a recirculation unit consists of
a mechanical treatment that removes flocculation’s, particles, debris, etc., and a biological

12
treatment that breaks down ammonia to nitrite and nitrate, and lowers the biological oxygen
demand (BOD). A unit that removes the soluble fraction is also included (Browne, 2016).

2.3.4 Control of infections of artemia

Heavy losses of pre-adults may be due to infections with the filamentous bacterium Leucothrix,
which particularly occur in nutrient-rich media (Solangi et al., 2015). The Leucothrix colonies fix
on to the exoskeleton, by preference on the thoracopods, and become visible only from instar V/VI
stage onwards. The brine shrimp suffer physically, as the movements of their thoracopods become
affected and, consequently, filtration rates are reduced. Ultimately, growth and moulting are
arrested, and overfeeding of the tanks occurs, eventually resulting in a collapse of the Artemia
culture. One cure may be the application of tetramycin; however, antibiotics cannot be used in
recirculation systems as they will affect the biological treatment unit. Raising salinity from 35 to
50–60 g l-1 appears to be the most practical solution, coupled with a higher water renewal rate of
25% instead of 10% on a weekly basis (Lavens et al., 2008).

A second observed disease in Artemia cultures is the ‘black disease’. Black spots appear primarily
on the extremities, such as on the thoracopods and antennae. This disease consists of the
detachment of the epidermis from the cuticula, and is caused by a dietary deficiency, which
interferes with lipid metabolism (Hernandorena, 2018). In high-density cultures of Artemia using
agricultural by-products as a food source, the black disease is observed when water quality
deteriorates (probably interfering with the composition of the bacterial population and
consequently the diet composition) and/or when feeding rates are not optimal. Improving these
conditions does not save the affected animals, but appears to avoid further losses.

2.4 Harvest and Processing of Cultured Artemia

Harvesting of high-density cultures of Artemia can be facilitated by taking advantage of the surface
respiration behavior of the animals. When the aeration in the culture tank, together with the flow-
through and the automatic feeding are interrupted, oxygen levels in the water drop very quickly
and all waste particles sink to the bottom; after about 30 min the Artemia respond to the oxygen
depletion by concentrating at the water surface, where they perform surface respiration. The
concentrated population, free from suspended solids, can easily be scooped out with a net of an
appropriate mesh size.

13
When the culture water is not loaded with particles, brine shrimp can be harvested by draining the
complete culture over a sieve, which should be partially submerged. The Artemia should be
washed thoroughly in freshwater or seawater. The harvested Artemia can then be offered as live
food for freshwater as well as marine predators. The salinity of the predator culture water is of no
concern, as Artemia is a hypo-osmoregulatory, and its body fluids have a constant and low salt
content of about 9 g l-1. In seawater, they remain alive without feeding for several days. When
transferred into freshwater, Artemia will continue to swim for another 5 h, after which time they
eventually die as a result of osmoregulatory stress. Live brine shrimp can be transported in plastic
bags containing cooled seawater under oxygen. Harvested Artemia that are not for immediate
consumption can be frozen or dried in flakes. To ensure optimal product quality, brine shrimp
biomass must be frozen immediately after thorough washing with freshwater when still alive. The
biomass should be spread out in thin layers (1 cm) in plastic bags or on ice trays, and transferred
to a quick freezer (at least 15°C). The adult exoskeleton is not damaged when the biomass is frozen
properly. Upon thawing, the Artemia cubes yield intact animals, which do not pollute the water by
leaching of body fluid (Belovsky, 2000).

14
Figure :7 Artisanal brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) cyst production in saltworks in Rio Grande
do Norte, northeastern Brazil: (a) scooping out the cysts of the water or (b) shoreline; (c) washing
the harvested cysts with brine; (d) dehydrated cysts stored in saturated brine in a local processing
plant; (e) outdoors cyst drying; (f) processed cysts before packaging and commercialization.

2.5 Nutritional Value of Artemia

The earliest significant realization of artemia as excellent food source for early stage of larva fish
has been documented. However, the recent study showed that brin shrimp are very well accepted

15
by larval fish and crustaceans (Hould ,2000). It is no exactly known whether this can be attributed
in their biochemical composition (Binijts, 2004). Furthermore, the studies showed that diet of live
artemia give better result than any preparation of dead artemia (Serfling et al.,2002). recent
findings showed that whitefish larvae metamorphosed equally well if fed artemia previously frozen
in liquid nitrogen or live artemia, but when fed slow frozen nauplii. Recently, emphasis on larvae
rearing of fin fishes and crustacean has placed on the tissue of geographical strains of the Brin
shrimp (Read ,2002). It was concluded that artemia from great Salt Lake showed poor performance
compared with other strains such as those from bunos aires (Argentina), shark ray (Australia),
Macau area brasil, Chaplin Lake (Canada), San Francisco (USA).

However, the various theories have been suggested to explain the poor performance of the great
Salt Lake strain of artemia. One of these places the blame on accumulation of residual pesticide in
great Salt Lake artemia (Slodbokin, 2001).it also possible that great Salt Lake artemia might have
developed immunity against toxic alkaloid secreted by algal blooms in the lake and concentrated
in the artemia cysts. Since the use of artemia is presently limited in most cases to freshly hatched
nauplii. adult artemia are twenty times larger and weigh 500 than times more than hatched nauplii
(Reeve, 2003). Their nutritional value changes considerably during growth their fat decrease from
20% to less than of 10% of dry weight and the protein content increase from 42% to 60% whereas
the nauplii are deficient in histidine, methionine, phenylalanine and threonine, adult artemia are
rich on all essential amino acids (Provasoli, 2006).

Generally, According to John et al (2004), the newly hatched Artemia nauplii contains 50.6%
protein, 25.7% carbohydrate, 14.2% fat, 9.4% ash and the energy value of 18.97 KJ g-1. Artemia
has a characteristic as a non-selective filter feeder, which consumes anything that enters
its mouth (Mohebbi et al., 2015).

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 3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 Conclusion

Artemia is able to survive in hypersaline environments where none of its predators can. It is
employed in the mass culture of various fish species. They are zooplankton, like copepods and
Daphnia, and are grouped as a phylum in Arthropoda, class Crustacea. They are used as live food
in the aquarium trade, as well as for marine finfish and crustacean larval culture. Their cysts range
in size from 200 to 300 micrometers, depending on the strain. They can withstand temperatures
ranging from 15 to 55 degrees Celsius and salinities ranging from 3 to 300 parts per thousand. The
eggs, or "cysts," are the first stage of its life, followed by the babies, or "nauplii," the third stage,
which looks like mini adults, and finally the adult stage. It is found in natural salt lakes and artificial
salterns spread across the tropical, subtropical, and temperate climatic zones, along coastlines, and
inland. In practice, when establishing an Artemia culture, one should begin by listing the existing
cultural conditions and infrastructure.

They are non-selective, continuous particle-filtering organism. Several factors can influence
Artemia feeding behavior by affecting the filtration rate, ingestion rate, and/or assimilation: the
quality and quantity of food offered, the larvae's developmental stage, and the culture conditions.
Before feeding brine shrimp to fish, rinse the nauplii under running water to remove any salts or
metabolites that may be harmful to the fish. Following that, Artemia cultivation techniques such
as open flow-through and stagnant systems, as well as good management practices and feeding
systems, are used to prevent disease and maximize artemia production for fish culture, as well as
properly harvest and process it at the desired level. Its nutritional value as a food source for fish
culture is excellent, but it is expensive when compared to other feeds.

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3.2 Recommendations

In the view of the above conclusion the following recommendation were forwarded: -

The effort to develop complete substitutes for artemia has been extensive and is still ongoing.
Although 100 percent replacement of artemia is possible, it is always at the cost of culture time,
yield, and/or health condition of the cultured animals, which eventually affects farm economics
and sustainability. A fast, realistic and beneficial approach today is the implementation of a
number of procedures which focus on (1) a more efficient use of the available artemia and (2)
greater use of partial replacement diets of artemia. Furthermore, we can use plant feed resources
in order to replace artemia feed.

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