title: SEM study of diversity in the cyst surface topography of nine parthenogenetic Artemia (Crustacea: Anostraca) populations from China.
abstract: The cysts of nine Chinese populations of parthenogenetic Artemia were studied by scanning electron microscope. In the 270 cysts examined, 15 different morphological patterns were recognized with most of them not recorded in previous studies and the "tubercled shell surface" being the most common pattern. Results also displayed high intrapopulation variability, with the maximum of 11 patterns (in 30 cysts) recorded from the Barkol population. No positive correlation between the diversity of cyst shell patterns and ploidy compositions was found. Principal components analysis suggests higher similarity among coastal populations than among inland populations, which may be attributed to the identity of physicochemical conditions among coastal salterns and dissimilarity among inland saline lakes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asem
authors.forename: Shi-Chun
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001156:Artemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002681:China; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010063:Ovum / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011003:Ploidies; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012098:Reproduction
keywords: Artemia; cyst shell; scanning electron microscope; surface morphology