Effects of different diets on the reproductive success of Kenya Artemia franciscana (Kellogg, 1906) under laboratory conditions

Artemia franciscana is an important live feed organism widely used in aquaculture for fish and crustacean larval rearing. Although this species has been established in Kenyan coastal salt works since the 1980s, limited information exists regarding the effects of supplementary diets on its reproductive performance. This study investigated the effects of different diets on the survival and reproductive success of Kenyan A. franciscana populations under laboratory conditions. Four dietary treatments were evaluated in five replicates under controlled laboratory conditions. The treatments were (Chaetoceros sp.) as a control, wheat pollard, fishmeal (omena dust) and a treatment made of mixture of fishmeal and wheat pollard (50:50). Hatched Artemia nauplii were reared to maturity and paired in a 1:1 male–female ratio in replicated vials. Survival and reproductive parameters; nauplii production and cyst production were recorded daily. The microalgae diet produced the highest reproductive output (99 ± 20.4 offspring per female), followed by the mixed diet (51.8 ± 7.0). Wheat pollard treatment resulted in the lowest reproductive output ((7.8 ± 0.7). Survival was equally highest in the microalgae treatment (80%) and lowest in the wheat pollard treatment (30%). These results indicate that microalgae remain the optimal diet for maximizing reproductive success of A. franciscana, although combined formulated diets can provide a viable alternative where algal culture is limited.