Discipline: Ecology Environmental and Earth Sciences
Subcategory: Ecology
Session: 3
Room: Exhibit Hall
Journi Martin - Morgan State University
Co-Author(s): Ingrid Tulloch, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD; Edwin Cruz-Rivera, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD; Viji Sitther, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD.
Brine Shrimp Artemia salinas are a type of aquatic crustacean commonly used in aquaculture and environmental toxicology research due to its convenient twenty-four to thirty-six hour hatch period. An advantage of brine shrimp is that their eggs can remain viable for up to twenty-four years in dry storage. Many saltwater and freshwater fish breeders use brine shrimp as a source of food because of their high nutritional content. For example, our laboratory raised freshwater crustacean Procambarus clarkii are fed brine shrimp as a supplement to their regular feed. We recently found that if the crayfish environment contains Fremyella diplosiphon; a species of cyanobacteria, it increases growth and survival of P. clarkii. We therefore asked, what would be the effects of F. diplosiphon on A. salinas in the laboratory. Although it can survive in saltwater, F. diplosiphon is normally found in freshwater, the natural environment for P. clarkii. Given the different optimal environmental conditions for A. salinas compared to P. clarkii, we hypothesized that F. diplosiphon would actually cause harm to developing A. salinas. We tested the effects of varying concentrations of F. diplosion on A. salinas hatching, growth, and activity. We found that the lowest concentration of F. diplosion (1.3x105cells/mL) yielded the best results in regards to hatching and growth in comparison to the higher concentrations (2.6x105cells/mL and 5.3x105cells/mL). Within twenty-four hours, 16% of the A. salinas eggs had hatched in the lowest concentration; and by forty- eight hours, 33% had hatched. Where only 28% of the A. salinas eggs had hatched in the 2.6x105cells/mL concentration and 24% of the A. salinas eggs had hatched in the 5.3x105cells/mL after forty-eight hours. This data shows that A. salinas can survive to nauplii after being exposed to F. diplosiphon. However, too much F. diplosiphon may slow their hatching process.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Ingrid Tulloch
Faculty Advisor: Ingrid Tulloch, ingrid.tulloch@morgan.edu
Role: I came up with the hypothesis, collected the data, and I am presenting the data.