Hatching characteristics and cold storage of nauplii of brine shrimp Artemia KKT1 from Thamaraikulam, India CHRISTOPHER J.A. JOHN1, A. BENEDICTAL2, M. BRINTHA2 and PETER M. MARIAN2* 1 Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, NanKang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan 2 Institute for Artemia Research and Training, Centre for Marine Science and Technology, M. S. University, Marina Campus, Rajakkamangalam - 629 502, K. K. District, Tamil Nadu, India Abstract The brine shrimp Artemia has been used widely as a live feed for finfish and shrimp/prawn larvae. An Artemia population found in a saltpan of Thamaraikulam (India) is investigated for its hatching characteristics. The hatching percentage was 69.2% while hatching efficiency, hatching synchrony and hatching output of the cysts were found to be 230600 nauplii/g of cysts, ts=12 h and 661 mg/g cysts, respectively. Cyst decapsulation improved significantly (7%) the hatching percentage. The effects of temperature, salinity and pH on hatching were also studied. It was revealed that temperature had more influence on hatching. The optimum conditions for maximum hatching were found to be 29±1°C, 35 ppt and pH=8. Cold storage studies revealed that the freshly hatched instar-I nauplii could be maintained at 2-4°C, up to 48 h with >90% survival. No significant dry weight loss was noticed during this storage period. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the instar-I nauplii can tolerate -1°C for 24 h after treatment with a cryoprotectant.   < back .