Presentation by Yeong Yik Sung, Sui Liying & Patrick Sorgeloos at the Artemia Session held at the World Aquaculture 2026 conference in Singapore on 5 June 2026.

Getting Artemia preparation wrong costs hatcheries in survival rates, wasted cysts, and feed bills. At Partnerships to Practice: An Artemia Workshop, held at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, industry, government, and researchers validated a new set of hatchery good-practice tools: SOP sheets, checklists, and demonstration videos covering Artemia biosecurity, enrichment, and biomass production in hatchery environments.

Delegates also discussed building a global inventory of Artemia genetic resources tracking genetic and nutritional characteristics, hatching rates and strain performance to help hatcheries pick the right strain for their systems instead of relying on guesswork. The goal of the practices, based on the FAO Manual on Artemia Production and Use, are to optimise yield and reduce wastage of expensive Artemia resources, and to provide instruction on cold storage, enrichment, and biosecurity on the hatchery floor.

Artemia show substantial differences in their characteristics not only between species, but also between populations of the same species. There are multiple parthenogenic lineages with distinct genesis. A new IAAC paper addresses the persistent issue of failing to correctly document the provenance of Artemia used in research.

Abstract: Brine shrimp (Artemia) are indispensable in global aquaculture and widely utilized as model organisms across diverse biological disciplines. Nevertheless, a considerable proportion of published studies suffer from irreproducibility and reduced reliability, often due to inadequate consideration of taxonomic resolution. In particular, the persistent and erroneous application of the binomial designation Artemia salina as a generic reference to all species, populations, and parthenogenetic lineages represents a major source of confusion. This article emphasizes that taxonomy is not merely a formal exercise in classical biology but a fundamental scientific framework for cataloguing and conserving Artemia wild biodiversity at both the population/lineage and species levels, in accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). In the absence of taxonomic verification and clear documentation of the geographic origin of Artemia specimens, the findings of most studies committing this A. salina fallacy cannot be reliably reproduced or independently validated.

Full paper available from:

• Asem A, Gajardo G, Sui L, Sung YY and Sorgeloos P (2026). The "Artemia salina" fallacy: resolving taxonomic misidentification in the brine shrimp model organism used across diverse biological disciplines. Zoological Joural of the Linnean Society 207(2):zlag103.

This webinar presented the results of an in-depth analysis of Artemia production, conservation and investment opportunities by the World Bank Group, with expert input from members of the International Artemia Consortium.

Artemia (brine shrimp) is a critical live feed in aquaculture, particularly in hatcheries for shrimp, fish, and ornamental species. Its production and sustainable management are increasingly important as aquaculture expands globally. Global Artemia markets face increasing demand, while new innovations in farming, processing, and conservation offer opportunities for inclusive investment, resilience, and biodiversity protection.

This event brought together global experts, policymakers, private sector representatives, and development partners to discuss the state of Artemia production and conservation, market opportunities, regulatory frameworks, and pathways for sustainable and viable investment.

The Global Artemia Summit was held on 27 June 2025 in Entebbe, Uganda, as a special session during the World Aquaculture Society’s Safari Conference. Co-hosted by the World Bank and FutureFish, the event brought together experts, government officials, private sector stakeholders, and researchers to discuss strategies for enhancing Artemia aquaculture and conservation.

The summit addressed growing concerns over Artemia resource constraints due to overharvesting, environmental degradation, and climate impacts, while highlighting new opportunities for sustainable production, particularly in Africa. Sessions explored integrated Artemia-salt farming systems, human food applications, value chain development, and public-private investment models. Panel discussions and networking sessions promoted knowledge exchange and south-south collaboration.

The brine shrimp Artemia, a crustacean adapted to the extreme conditions of hypersaline environments, comprises nine regionally distributed sexual species scattered (island-like) over heterogeneous environments and asexual (parthenogenetic) lineages with different ploidies. Such sexual and asexual interaction within the genus raises questions regarding the origin and time of divergence of both sexual species and asexual lineages, including the persistence of the latter over time, a problem not yet clarified using single mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Based on the complete mitochondrial genome of all species and parthenogenetic lineages, this article first describes the mitogenomic characteristics (nucleotide compositions, genome mapping, codon usage, and tRNA secondary structure) of sexual species and asexual types and, secondly, it provides a comprehensive updated phylogenetic analysis. Molecular dating and geographical evidence suggest that the ancestral Artemia taxon originated in ca. 33.97 Mya during the Paleogene Period. The mitogenomic comparisons suggest that the common ancestor of diploid and triploid parthenogenetic lineages (ca. 0.07 Mya) originated from a historical ancestor (ca. 0.61 Mya) in the Late Pleistocene. Additionally, the common ancestor of tetraploid and pentaploid parthenogenetic lineages (ca. 0.05 Mya) diverged from a historical maternal ancestor with A. sinica (ca. 0.96 Mya) in the early Pleistocene. The parthenogenetic lineages do not share a direct ancestor with any sexual species. The Asian clade ancestor diverged more recently (ca. 14.27 Mya, Middle Miocene). The mitogenomic characteristics, maternal phylogenetic tree, and especially divergence time prove that A. monica and A. franciscana are two biological species.

The first International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium (IAAC) conference was a free half day event held in Ostend, Belgium on 9 September, as a prelude to Larvi 2024. The conference presentations provided an overview of many of the issues surrounding Artemia, including management of salt lakes habitats that still provide the bulk of global Artemia supplies, Artemia biodiversity, hatching optimisation, and aquaculture of Artemia biomass in tanks and ponds. Video recordings of the presentations are available within.

Presentation by Liying Sui at the First International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium Conference, 9 September 2024, Ostend, Belgium.

Presentation by Stephanie De Vos at the First International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium Conference, 9 September 2024, Ostend, Belgium.

Video recordings of presentations from the Training project on management of Artemia resources and salt lake habitats are available. The project addressed the hydrological, biological, ecological, wildlife and legislative aspects of Artemia resource management, conservation and farming. Artemia species and strains need to be safeguarded and characterised for use in aquaculture. The ecological heterogeneity and dynamics of their salt lake habitats, influenced by climate change and human intervention, require an integrated and coordinated approach to their management and utilisation. The project was co-organised by FAO, NACA, IAAC and funded by Alliance of National and International Science Organizations, and the Belgian Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences.

Opening remarks at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels. Speakers were: Xinhua Yuan, Philippe De Maeyer, Simon Wilkinson, Wang Zhongxiu.

Presentation by Patrick Sorgeloos at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

Presentation by Naser Agh at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

Presentation by Galina Tsareva at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

Presentation by Graham Mair at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

Presentation by Gonzalo Gajardo at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

Presentation by Sui Liying and Xuekai Han at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

Presentation by Elena Boyko at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

Presentation by Kamila Adyrbekova at the Training Programme on Safeguarding Salt Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia) Resources for Aquaculture, held 2-6 September 2024 in Rome / Brussels.

The first ever IAAC conference was a free half day even held in Ostend, Belgium on 9 September, as a prelude to Larvi 2024, which ran from 9-12 September. The conference featured twelve presentations introducing the IAAC and providing an overview of many of the issues surrounding Artemia, including management of salt lakes habitats that still provide the bulk of global Artemia supplies, Artemia biodiversity, hatching optimisation, and aquaculture of Artemia biomass in tanks and ponds. Video recordings of most will be posted shortly (the programme below will be updated with links).

The first IAAC Members’ Meeting was held in the afternoon following the IAAC Conference. The proceedings involved two panel discussions, by the Academic Sector and Private Sector respectively. The panels included remote members participating via Zoom.