ABSTRACT

The nutritional value of Artemia, especially for marine organisms, is not constant, but varies both geographically and temporally. Although Artemia has been known to man for centuries, its use as a food for the culture of larval organisms apparently began only in the 1930s, when several investigators found that it made an excellent food for newly hatched fish larvae. The collection and processing of cysts is normally done by the commercial supplier and therefore is beyond the control of the aquaculturist. Since the mid-80s Artemia cyst consumption has increased to several hundred tons annually as a result of the worldwide expansion in commercial larviculture of marine fish, shrimp, and prawn. Juvenile and adult Artemia can be harvested easily from an intensive culture system by siphoning or draining the tank. Artemia biomass can be frozen, freeze-dried, or made into a flake diet for storage and subsequent usage, with relatively little loss of nutritional composition.