ELECTROPHORETIC EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE ARTEMIA FOUND IN THE SALAR-DE-ATACAMA, CHILE, IS A-FRANCISCANA KELLOGG

The electrophoretic characterization of an Artemia population from a saline lake of the Chilean Andes with unusual ecological features (Salar de Atacama, 23-degrees 30' S; 68-degrees 10' W) was carried out with the aim of comparing its genetic variation with, and genetic similarity to, representative populations of A. persimilis (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and A. franciscana (San Francisco Bay, USA). Based on the analysis of 22 loci it is concluded that the Chilean population and that from San Francisco are conspecific (DBAR = 0.144), while the Chilean strain and A. persimilis are congeneric species (DBAR = 1.171), differing in more than 40% of the loci. Parameters measuring genetic variation (e.g., percentage of loci polymorphic, mean number of alleles per locus, mean heterozygosity per locus) demonstrate that values for the Chilean Artemia (50.0, 1.68, 0.126, respectively) are within the range for bisexual Artemia in general and A. franciscana in particular.