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¹ University of Monastir, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Monastir, Research Laboratory: LR14ES06 Bioresources, Integrative Biology and Valorization, Avenue Tahar Hadded, BP 74, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia DOI : 10.4194/2618-6381-v21_1_05 Viewed : 2920 - Downloaded : 2673 Artemia salina cysts harvested from the Sebkha of Sidi El Hani were hatched and cultivated in the laboratory. The obtained nauplii were acclimated at 90 ppt and fed with Dunaliella salina microalgae until the adult stage called generation 1 (G1) was reached. Ten couples were isolated and acclimated in the same conditions. Observations of the offspring lasted for a maximum of 60 days. Cysts obtained from G1 were collected and counted. Cyst diameter, chorion thickness and hatching percentage were established. Nauplii obtained from G1 were labelled G2. The third (G3) and the fourth (G4) generations were studied similarly. A significant variation of untreated cyst diameter between G1 (234.7±14.1 μm) and the subsequent generations, notably G3 (210.9±14 μm) were registered. Decapsulated cyst diameter delayed significantly from 218.5±12.8 (G1) to 190.8±10.1 (G3). The chorion thickness ranged between 8.1 (G1) and 10.5 (G2). Therefore, an interesting boost of untreated cysts hatching percentage was observed from 69±2.3% (G1) to 76±3.7% (G4). These results highlighted the variability of cyst diameter across successive generations, even cultivated under laboratory scale. An improvement of hatching quality was detected when environmental conditions became favorable. Keywords : Artemia salina, Cyst diameter, Chorion thickness, Hatching percentage, Subsequent generations