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Artemia habitats: Ion concentrations tolerated by one superspecies

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Abstract

The geographic distribution, history, and ionic composition of habitats of Artemia franciscana are reviewed with emphasis on habitats with extreme values for ionic concentrations or ionic ratios: a) high-chloride waters (sea water salterns and Zuni and Great Salt Lakes); b) high-sulfate lakes in Saskatchewan (Chaplin and Little Manitou) and on the Okanogan plateau of Washington (Penley Lake complex); and c) high-carbonate habitats in Nevada (Fallon), in California (Mono Lake) and in the Nebraska sandhills (Jesse and Antioch).

First-instar nauplii from populations representative of each of these three habitat clusters were tested for tolerance of potassium (0–5 g K l-1), magnesium (0–1.3 g Mg l-1), and calcium (0\2–0.6 g Ca l-1). Viabilities were recorded until survivors reached adulthood in pairs of simple defined synthetic culture media which differed in only one parameter. Eight populations showed four levels of tolerance of high potassium. Of four populations tested, all had high viability and fertility in media lacking potassium (above the level in the yeast diet).

Artemia from sea water salterns or from Zuni, Chaplin, or Great Salt Lakes could not tolerate low levels of calcium (<20 mg l-1). This accounts for their inability to tolerate hypersaline high-carbonate waters. Mono and Fallon nauplii had high viability and fertility in media with low levels of calcium (0–10 mg l-1) but lacking magnesium. They could not survive for seven days, however, in low-calcium (< 10 mg l-1) media that contained moderate amounts of magnesium (1.3 g l-1), indicating that magnesium interferes with utilization of low levels of calcium.

For each of the three cations, the range of concentrations encountered by each population in the habitat is narrower than the range affording high viability in laboratory media. As expected, the midpoints of the two ranges are sometimes similar. In many cases, however, the narrower range of ionic concentrations reported for lake water is at the end of the range affording high viability in the laboratory.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, 94132, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Sarane T. Bowen, Martin R. Buoncristiani & Jaya R. Carl

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  1. Sarane T. Bowen
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Bowen, S.T., Buoncristiani, M.R. & Carl, J.R. Artemia habitats: Ion concentrations tolerated by one superspecies. Hydrobiologia 158, 201–214 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00026278

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