Characterization of <i>Artemia</i> from different localities in Tunisia with regard to their use in local aquaculture

Artemia cysts have been collected from different saltworks and natural salt lakes in Tunisia. The cyst material was processed and used for the following characterization analyses: cyst and naupliar biometrics, cyst hatching characteristics, fatty acid pattern of the nauplii, nutritional value of the nauplii for mysid shrimp, naupliar growth rate and temperature resistance, mode of reproduction, and characterization of sibling species. The cross-breeding tests and cyst biometrics reveal that only Artemia tunisiana occurs in Tunisia. Although quality improvements may be expected through improved harvesting, Tunisian Artemia have acceptable hatching characteristics and are a good food for mysid shrimp. Small variations in hatching quality observed between cyst samples harvested from the same locality, might indicate fluctuations in the environmental conditions prior to the cyst harvest. Naupliar growth rate is high in most strains but naupliar resistance to high temperatures is limited