THE BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE LARVAE OF TWO STRAINS OF ARTEMIA SALINA (L.) REARED ON TWO DIFFERENT ALGAL FOODS

A sequential carbohydrate, protein, and lipid method of analysis has been used to determine the biochemical composition of freshly hatched and 48-h old larvae of two strains of the brine shrimp Artemia salina (L.). During a 48-h starvation period the percentage of carbohydrates and lipids of freshly hatched larvae decreases whereas the ash content increases by 40-100%. When fed with dried Scenedesmus or dried Spirulina for 2 days after hatching the protein level of the larvae increases significantly and the relative increase in ash content is lower than in the case of starvation. Amino acid analyses of the algal food and the unfed and fed larvae did not show any change except for the absence (below detection) of methionine in the starved nauplii. The fatty acid pattern of 48-h old Artemia larvae is different from that of freshly hatched nauplii both in unfed and fed larvae; in the latter case it seems to be determined to a large extent by the fatty acid composition of the food. © 1979.