The Effect of Digestive Enzymes on the Hatchability of Artemia salina Eggs

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Abstract
In an attempt to determine the effect of digestive enzymes on egg hatchability, the eggs of the brine shrimp, Artemia salina. were subjected to 8 sequences of 4 digestive enzymes. The eggs were exposed to all possible combinations of lipase, pepsin, and trypsin, and to 2 combinations of chitinase, lipase, pepsin, and trypsin. Egg hatchability was found to be neither increased nor decreased by either the combinations of the enzymes or the pH values of 1.8, 5.6, and 7.0. Although the experiments did not simulate the physiological conditions in an avian alimentary tract, the data do illustrate that Artemia eggs are very resistant to 4 known avian hydrolases. These results in conjunction with the in vivo experiments of previous researchers suggest that any bird may be able to disperse large quantities of viable Artemia eggs via the alimentary tract.