The effects of unicellular microalgae as food on the growth, survival and reproductive characteristics in Artemia urmiana

This study was performed to compare the efficiency of 6 microalgae namely Dunaliella tertiolecta, Tetraselmis suecica, Chlorella sp., (green algae), Nannochloropsis oculata, Spirolina sp.(blue-green algae) Cheatocerus sp. (Diatoma), and Isochrices sp. (Haptophytae) on the growth, survival and reproduction efficacy in Artemia urmiana in laboratory conditions. Artemia cysts were harvested from Urmia Lake and hatched according to the standard method. Live microalgae were cultured using the F/2 Guillard's culture medium. Artemia survival was determined in treatments on days 8, 11, 14, 17 and 20. Length growth of A. urmiana was measured in three-day intervals. To determine reproduction efficiency characteristics such as cysts production, intervals between two successive reproductions, first reproduction time and the date of female Artemia were analyzed. The results indicated a significant difference (p