An overview on the nomenclatural and phylogenetic problems of native Asian brine shrimps of the genus Artemia Leach, 1819 (Crustacea, Anostraca)

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Abstract

The genus Artemia Leach, 1819 is a cosmopolitan halophilic crustacean, consisting of bisexual species and obligate parthenogenetic populations. Asia is rich in Artemia biodiversity. More than 530 Artemia sites have been recorded from this area and more than 20 species/subspecies/variety names have been used for them. There exist various problems in the nomenclature, identification, and phylogenetic status of Artemia native to Asia, which are discussed in this paper.

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The Brine Shrimp Artemia: Adapted to Critical Life Conditions

Gonzalo Gajardo, John A. Beardmore (2012)

The brine shrimp Artemia is a micro-crustacean, well adapted to the harsh conditions that severely hypersaline environments impose on survival and reproduction. Adaptation to these conditions has taken place at different functional levels or domains, from the individual (molecular-cellular-physiological) to the population level. Such conditions are experienced by very few equivalent macro-planktonic organisms; thus, Artemia can be considered a model animal extremophile offering a unique suite of adaptations that are the focus of this review. The most obvious is a highly efficient osmoregulation system to withstand up to 10 times the salt concentration of ordinary seawater. Under extremely critical environmental conditions, for example when seasonal lakes dry-out, Artemia takes refuge by producing a highly resistant encysted gastrula embryo (cyst) capable of severe dehydration enabling an escape from population extinction. Cysts can be viewed as gene banks that store a genetic memory of historical population conditions. Their occurrence is due to the evolved ability of females to “perceive” forthcoming unstable environmental conditions expressed by their ability to switch reproductive mode, producing either cysts (oviparity) when environmental conditions become deleterious or free-swimming nauplii (ovoviviparity) that are able to maintain the population under suitable conditions. At the population level the trend is for conspecific populations to be fragmented into locally adapted populations, whereas species are restricted to salty lakes in particular regions (regional endemism). The Artemia model depicts adaptation as a complex response to critical life conditions, integrating and refining past and present experiences at all levels of organization. Although we consider an invertebrate restricted to a unique environment, the processes to be discussed are of general biological interest. Finally, we highlight the benefits of understanding the stress response of Artemia for the well-being of human populations.

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Guidelines for assigning species rank†

Martin Collinson, George Sangster, David T. Parkin … (2002)

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Laboratory generation of new parthenogenetic lineages supports contagious parthenogenesis in Artemia

Marta Maccari, Francisco Amat, Francisco Hontoria … (2014)

Contagious parthenogenesis—a process involving rare functional males produced by a parthenogenetic lineage which mate with coexisting sexual females resulting in fertile parthenogenetic offspring—is one of the most striking mechanisms responsible for the generation of new parthenogenetic lineages. Populations of the parthenogenetic diploid brine shrimp Artemia produce fully functional males in low proportions. The evolutionary role of these so-called Artemia rare males is, however, unknown. Here we investigate whether new parthenogenetic clones could be obtained in the laboratory by mating these rare males with sexual females. We assessed the survival and sex ratio of the hybrid ovoviviparous offspring from previous crosses between rare males and females from all Asiatic sexual species, carried out cross-mating experiments between F1 hybrid individuals to assess their fertility, and estimated the viability and the reproductive mode of the resulting F2 offspring. Molecular analysis confirmed the parentage of hybrid parthenogenetic F2. Our study documents the first laboratory synthesis of new parthenogenetic lineages in Artemia and supports a model for the contagious spread of parthenogenesis. Our results suggest recessive inheritance but further experiments are required to confirm the likelihood of the contagious parthenogenesis model.