THE USE OF Artemia CYSTS IN AQUACULTURE: THE CONCEPT OF “HATCHING EFFICIENCY” AND DESCRIPTION OF A NEW METHOD FOR CYST PROCESSING

The quality of brands of Artemia cysts should be expressed on a weight basis, namely the number of live nauplii hatching out per unit of weight of product and not as a “hatching percentage” since the latter concept does not take into account the degree of impurity of the material. A standardized method for the determination of the hatching efficiency is proposed. A new methodology for cyst processing has been worked out at laboratory scale, based on a 2-step cleaning (brine and tap water) followed by dehydration (air or brine) or decapsulation and dehydration (brine).