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LIBYAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE (2005) 10: 1- 8
REPRODUCTIVE AND LIFESP AN CHARACTERISTICS OF
ARTEMIA FROM LffiYAN ABU KAMMASH SABKHA
Mohamed o. EI-Magsodi 1; Hassan M. EI-Ghebli 1;Mohamed A. Enbaya2
Mohammed Hamza 1; Usama A. Drebika 1; and Patrick Sorgeloos3
1 Marine Biology Research Center
p.a.Box: 30830, Tajura, Libya
Tel. +218-21-3690001, Fax. +218-21-3690002.
E-mail: [email protected].
2 Department of Aquacu1ture,Faculty of Agriculture AIfateh University.
3 Artemia Reference Center, State University of Ghent
Rozier 44, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
Keywords: Artemia, Lifespan Characteristics, Offspring, Broods, Libya.
ABSTRACT
The reproductive performance of the Abu Kammash Artemia was tested in
three salinities (100, 140 and '180 ppt) of Instant Ocean@solution at constant
temperature of 25:f:loC. Six reproductive and four lifespan characteristics were
studied, they were: offspring per brood, brood per female, offspring per female
per day during the reproductive period, days between broods, percent
offspring encysted,total offspringper female,pre-reproductiveperiod, reproductive
period, post-reproductiveperiod and totallifespan.
.
The resultsmdicated that Abu KammashArtemia shows a preferenceto high salinity.
The reproductive and lifespan characteristicshave no significant differences in'fhe
three salinities (100, 140 and 180 ppt). These characteristics were found to be
closer to A. tunisiana (salina). A high level of encysted offspring was observed
which suggeststhe possibilitiesof it's commercialuse. Also it is expected that these
studies could contribute towards the more general understanding about the
productivity of these animals, and prove helpful in developing this natural
resource in AbuKammash subkha. At the same time, it wil~provide Libya with
the opportunity to explore the practical use of the Artem.ia population from
Abu Kammash for the country needs.
INTRODUCTION
The brine shrimpArtemia (Crustucea:Branchiopoda)is a well-studiedorganism;
however, taxonomists are still puzzled about the evolution and the phylogenetic
relationship of the populations that comprise the genus. Schlosser made the first
description of the brine .shrimp in 1755 on material collected from solar saltworks near Lymington,England,UK, (Kuenen and Baas-Becking,1938).Linnaeus
describedthe brine shrimp as Cancersalinus in 1758 and Leach renamedit as
Artemia. saUna in 1819 (ArtOID1931). In the recent years many populations have
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Mohamed O. El-Maesodi et al.
been identified, and nowadays the genus Artemia comprised some bisexual
species and super species as well as parthenogenetic populations with various
degrees of ploidy (Browne and Bowen, 1991).
The corp.plexity of Artemia species is considered to be a unique system that
offers many advantages for analysis of evolutionary and ecological questions.
Brine shrimps are also regarded as a lifeline for the developing aquacu1ture
industry worldwide; it is used as satisfactory substitute food for larval freshwater
and marine fishes and crustaceans (Bengtson et al., 1991).
Although Artemia has 1he ability to live and breed in sea water and in brackish
water, it's habitats range in salinity from 45 to 340 ppt (persoone and Sorgeloos,
1980). However, it's habitat is restricted to two principal types: terminal inland
salt lakes and coastal saltems.; both are often associated with commercial salt
production (Browneand MacDonald, 1982). Salinity fluctuations caused by
human activities are common in aquacu1ture systeins. In the American great
Basin of the western United States major transbasin-water diversions and other
alterations have caused salinity to increase in Mono-lakes, California, Pyramid
Lake, Nevada, Great Salt Lake, Utah (Mason, 1967; Winkler et aI., 1977).
Artemia can maintain osmotic homeostasis in elevated salinities. Increased
energy requirement may affect other functions such as growth and reproduction
(Bond 1933; Gilcbrist, 1960). Sub-lethal and lethal salinity affects on A. mQnica
may occur at salinity above 133 ppt. were shown to base caused high mortality
and hatChing failure, beside,delaying in the reproduction and reduction in brood
size (Dana and Lenz, 1986)
Reproductive and lifespan characteristics have been intensively studied on many
organisms and provided valuable data in understanding their life history development and adaptation strategies. Life histories 1.e.reproductive and lifespancharacterlsticsare best investigated by analyzing and recorcijng quantitative genetic
traits of key fitness variables. Browne et al., 1984, 1991 has produced valuable
results fOI many Artemia popUlationsbelonging to various bisexual and parthenogenetic species. Their studies contributed to estimate the genetic and environmental components of the various life history characteristics and to compare
the populations for differences in their history strategies.
This study presents reproductive and lifespan characteristics of Artemia from the
Libyan AbU.Karom~shsabkha.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Following ;Browne et al., (1984; 1988) the reproductive and lifespan characteristics
studies b.1clude:offspring per bro~d, brood per female, offspring per female per
day dunng the reproductive peno4, days between broods~ percent offsprtng
encysted total offspring per female, pre-reprodutive period (in days), reproductive period (in days), past-reproductive period (in days) and total Hfespan (in
days). The reproductive perfonnance of Artemia from Abu Kammash cyst bank
code number 1437 was tested in three salinities (lOO, 140'and 1&0ppt) of Instant
Oceanr solution at 25:i:lOC.
LIBYAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE (200S) 10: 1- 8
REPRODUCTIVE AND LIFESPAN CHARACTERISTICS OF ARTEMlA
3
...
To obtain nauplii for culture experiments, 19 cysts of Artemia from Abu Kammash
(ARC code number 1437) was incubated in 800 ml Instant Ocean(r)solution of
32:i:1 ppt in cylindro-conical glass cones under optimal hatching condition
(Lavens and Sorgeloos, 1996). After 24 hrs the intar-I nauplii were harvested and
transferred directly into cylindro-conicalglass cones, each containing'200 freshly
hatched nauplii in 400 ml seawater.The initial animal density was one nauplius
per 2 m1of culturedmedium. The experimentwas run in 3 replicatesand the animals
were fed on a mixed diet of the live alga Dunaliella tertiolecta and the yeast-based
formulated feed Lanzy Pz(rJ (INVE AquacuIture SA, Belgium), following the
feeding schedule adapted from Coutteau et ai., (1992). As soon as males were
observed to clasp females in the culture experiments, the pairs were immediately
transferred into 50 ml cylindro-conical plastic tubes (falcon tubes) with 50 m1of
0.45 mm filtered Instant Ocean{t)solution medium of each salinity mentioned
above. A total of 50 pairs in each degree of salinity were observed daily for
reproductive characteristics. Males were replaced if death occurs, while females
were not replaced after day four.
Theresults were analyzedstatisticallywith a one-wayanalysisof variance(ANOVA)
to find an overall affect of the treatment. Tukeys HSD test was used to detect
significant differences among means at a significancelevel ofP<0.05.
RESULTS
The results obtained from six reproductive and four lifespan characteristics of
Artemia from Abu Karnmash cultured at three different salinity degrees are
summarizes in Table 1. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences be-
tween the three different salinity degrees .
Table 1. Mean and S.d. of reproductive and lifespan characteristics of Artemia from
Abu Kammashsabkha reared in three differentsalinities.
Characteristics
100 ppt
140 ppt
180 ppt
Offspring per brood
41.35 = 7.30
41.42:1::6.40
45.30 = 5.15
Broods per female
5.95 :I::2.25
5.65 :!::2.65
5.10:1: L10
Offspring per female per da..y
6.80:1:5.16
7.10=4.12
7.65 = 3.14
Days betWeen brood
6.10 = 4.10
5.88:1::3.12
5.91 :I:4.20
Percent offspring ncysted
92.2:1:8.55
94.50:1::5.50
100 :I:0.00
Total offspring per female
247 = 20.12
242:1::18.10
239 :I::15.60
Female prereproductive period (days)
24.25 :I:3.20
26.10:1::3.15
25.12:1::2.20
30.20:1::10.15
28.18:1::8.12
27.16 = 6.10
Female postreproductive period (days)
10.15:1:4.12
8.12 = 3.10
9.10:1::5.15
Total female lifespan (days)
64.60 :i:5.30
62.40 :!:4.15
6138 :!:4.20
Female reproductive period (days)
LIDYAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE (2005) 10: 1- 8
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MohamedO. EI-Ma2sodi et al.
DISCUSSION
Salinity ranged between 100 and 180 ppt do not seem to affect the reproductive
and lifespan characteristics of Abu Kammash Artemia. The species showed that
the optimal salinities for reproduction and lifespan characteristics were between
60 to 150 ppt (Browne et al., 1991; Trintaphyllidis et al., 1995). Previous works
(Browne et al., 1984,1991; Trintaphyllidis et al., 1995) showed thatA. parthenogenetica, A. franciscana, A. tunisiana, A. urmiana and A. sinica were distinct with
regard to reproductive and lifespan characteristics. Table 2 summarizes the results
obtained from previous studies on the reproductive and lifespan characteristics at
25°C and salinity ranged between 90 and 100 ppt.
Comparing the performance of Artemia from Abu Kammash with the available
data from the literature, we may say that Artemia from Abu Kammash is closer to
A. tunisiana (salina). The life histories of Artemia from Abu Kammash were lower
compared to the New W orId A. franciscana and very close to the A. tunisiana,
but also closer to A. urmiana, A. sinica and also the A. persimilis. The latter four
species and Artemia from Abu K::Immashconsistently had the smallest broods and
fewest total offspring and among the smallest number of broods per female,
offspring per day per female, days between broods, female reproductive days and
length of female lifespan compared with A. franciscana and A. parthenogenetica .
Abu Kammash Artemia gives a high level of encysted offspring, something that
is attractive for future commercial use. In the genus Artemia, as so far, A. franciscana
performs much better as compared to the other bisexual species. It produces the
most offspring per brood and has the longest reproductive period and lifespan
among the bisexual populations.
Most of the reproductive and lifespan traits of Abu Kammash Artemia are nearly
similar to A. tunisiana (salina) and there are no significant differences between
the two (sibling) species in some reproductive characteristics, but on the other
hand it differs from A.franciscana, A. sinica, A. urmiana, and A. parthenogenetica
populations, which well agrees with the results obtained by Beardmore and
Abreu-Grobois (1983) and Abreu-Grobois (1983, 1987) who studied bisexual
Mediterranean Artemia populations from Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Cyprus. They
found high genetic similarities between these populations and consequently
grouped them together as a species well separated from A. .franciscana~
A. persimilis and A. urmiana. The present results also agrees with Triantaphyllidis
et al., (1997) who indicated that allozyme and DNA polymorphisms (AFLP)
revealed that the bisexual Mediterranean A.rtemia populations present high genetic
similarities and can be grouped under the same species. But it shows that these
populations are well separated from all the other bisexuals A. franciscana,
A. persimilis, A. urmiana and A. sinica, as well as from any parthenogenetic
populations.
CONCLUSIONS
Artemia from Abu Kammash sabkha showed a preference to high salinity
(above 100 ppt). Reproductive and lifespan characteristics have no significant
differences in 100, 140 and 180 ppt. These characteristics were found to be about
LIBYAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE (2005) 10: 1- 8
~
~.
o
g
~
>
s
Table2. Comparativereproductiveand lifespan characteristics
ofArlemia &omAbu JCammashsabkha reared in salinity of 100 ppt with Qthef
popuIationsstudiedby Brownet al. (1984,1991)andTriantaphyllidisetal.. 1995. (. represents data obtained from Brown et al., 1984
study reared in 90 ppl ( representdata obtained from Brown et al.; 1991 study reared in 90 ppt) and (... represents data obtained by
..
TriantaDhvllidis
et al.. 1995studyreuedin 100
Characteristics
Abu lCammAh
Arlemla
t""I
Urmiana."
A.
43.21
sin/ca.
A.. I tunisiana-.
A.
I franclsCfl1lQ*
A.
I peTsimilisA. I parthenogenetica..
diploid polyploid
55.89
94.98
27.76
89.08
80.37: 53.85
5.50
5.65
11.82
3.91
9.37
15.22
8.80
23.60
16.47
It.53
31.58 35.86
5.76
4.10
4.36
2.90
4.79
5.53
64.81
92.21
25.27
44.12 47.96
10.65
63
-<
41.35
0
6.80
7.20
13.85
6.10
92.2
4.30
SS4S
247
341
337
161
0
24.25
31.25
32.50
3828
1215
30.35
293
35.09
i
30.20
.38.45
28.90
25.92
51.23
12.18 47.59
10.15
64.60
0
69.70
5.80
6810
12.03
76.07
6,06
87.1S
5.64
57.69
5.95
I
"I1
.
S09
42.11
6.00
86.86
1378
36.94
t""I
~
en
~
~
()
i
Cl.)
~
()
Cl.)
o"I1
~
~
85.42
5.95
12815
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~
en
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.--..
N
0
0
VI
........
..R
....
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Mohamed O. EI-Magsodi et al.
6
the same as to A. tunisiana (saUna). A high level of encysted offspring was
observed suggesting the possibilities of commercial use of Artemia from Abu
Kammash sabkha. The data presented here could contribute to future characterization efforts of Artemia from Abu Kammash sabkha. and may prove helpful in
developing this natural resource.
.
Acknowledgements
We thank all the staff of A rtemia Reference Center, Belgium for there assistance
to fulfill this work.
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