ABSTRACT

The brine shrimp, Artemia, is a crustacean which thrives in hypersaline waters and is distributed worldwide. Decapsulated cysts and freshly hatched nauplii of Arteinia form an ideal food for the larvae of crustaceans and fishes, while Artemia juveniles and adults form suitable diet for prawn/fish juveniles. Most of the infrastructure required for Artemia production is already available in these saltpans. Artemia will form a valuable byproduct to salt-farmers. Arteinia has an elongated body which can be divided into head, thorax and abdomen. A pair of antennules, antennae and stalked eyes is present in the head region. Solar saltpans have primary reservoirs, evaporation ponds and crystallizer beds. Water is allowed to flow from the primary reservoirs to a series of evaporation ponds after retention for a short duration in each pond. Chicken droppings are found to be suitable organic manure while urea, superphosphate and diammonium phosphate are the inorganic fertilizers used during Artemia culture.