Ecology of the brine shrimp Artemia in the Yucatan, Mexico, Salterns

One year of field data on the Yucatan, Mexico, North Coast hypersaline pools and salterns revealed extreme alkalinity, salinity and temperature conditions, hypoxia and in some instances, total desiccation. The four locations were similar in water temperature, nitrites, and phosphates, but differed i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of plankton research 2004-06, Vol.26 (6), p.617-624
Main Authors: Torrentera, Laura, Dodson, Stanley I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alkalinity
Ammonia
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Aquatic crustaceans
Artemia
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Brackish
Carbonates
Cysts
Decapoda
Desiccation
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Environmental conditions
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hypoxia
Nitrates
Nitrites
Oxygen
Phosphates
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Salinity
Salinity effects
Salterns
Silicates
Water depth
Water temperature
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:One year of field data on the Yucatan, Mexico, North Coast hypersaline pools and salterns revealed extreme alkalinity, salinity and temperature conditions, hypoxia and in some instances, total desiccation. The four locations were similar in water temperature, nitrites, and phosphates, but differed in salinity, oxygen content, water depth, nitrates, ammonia, silicates, carbonates, sulfates, and pH. The dominant multicellular organism in these hypersaline ecosystems is Artemia, the brine shrimp. Artemia abundance and population dynamics were significantly correlated with specific environmental conditions, most often water temperature, salinity, and oxygen concentration. The different schedules of Artemia and cyst production at each location suggest habitat partitioning among the brine shrimp populations across the North Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Our results provide an ecological basis for rational management of these endangered hypersaline ecosystems.
ISSN:0142-7873
1464-3774
1464-3774
DOI:10.1093/plankt/fbh057