Aquaculture related invasion of the exotic Artemia franciscana and displacement of the autochthonous Artemia populations from the hypersaline habitats of India

Abstract

Autochthonous parthenogentic Artemia populations have been reported from Indian hypersaine habitats since 1950s. Exotic Artemia franciscana was imported and introduced into India as live food for aquaculture since the early eighties. To assess the present status of the Artemia populations and the possibility of invasion by the introduced A.franciscana in Indian Salinas, an extensive study was conducted using conventional and molecular approaches.