Comparative study on some physiologic, biometrics, Nutritional value and molecular characteristics of Mighan Lake’s Artemia (Arak)

Abstract

Due to the importance of identifying the major characteristics of Artemia populations, in this study some physiologic, biometric, nutritional and genetic characteristics of one Artemia population from Iran named Arak’s Artemia (Mighan Lake) was studied. The hatched larvae of Artemia were reared in the saline water of 80 g/l with standards method in which percentage of survival and growth were evaluated on days 3, 7, 11 and 15 of culture period. In order to study the morphometric characteristics of Artemia, diameter of full cysts as well as 11 more morphological parameters of adult Artemia were measured. The fatty acids profile were analyzed by gas chromatography. The Genetic characteristics were compared with other Artemia populations by sequencing after PCR amplification of Hsp 26 gene. According to the results, the diameter of cysts and nauplii instar were 276.28 and 544.66 micron, respectively. The growth and survival of brine shrimp Artemia, in comparison with other populations, reflected good growth and survival of this population. The results of fatty acids profile also showed higher amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids in this Artemia compared to other populations cultured under identical conditions. The morphometric characteristics and genetic study of Hsp 26 gene showed great affinity of this population with the parthenogenetic brine shrimp Artemia. However, individual differences could be used to characterize this population.