PA Vikas1*, NK Sajeshkumar2, PC Thomas2, Kajal Chakraborty2, J Jayasankar2, KK Vijayan2
The present study was aimed to develop an Artemia strain producing small nauplii through selective breeding. Fifteen generations of mass selection was carried out for the reduction of nauplii size in the indigenous Artemia, which was identified to be Artemia franciscana naturalized in the Indian salinas. Mean values of life history traits, heritability of nauplii size, selection differentials, standardized selection differential, and predicted and realized selection responses were estimated from the full sib data. The selection response realized from fifteen generation of selection was 14.9 per cent reduction in nauplii length (from 517.0 ± 39.8 μm to 439.3 ± 27.0μm).
