Effect of Salinity on Glycogen Content in the Brine Shrimp, Artemia salinas, of Great Salt Lake

The brine shrimp, Artemia salinas, is one of the few organisms to be found in the hostile environment of the Great Salt Lake. Salt concentrations in the lake are found to exceed those in the oceans. In such an environment, the utilization of energy, even after it has been procured, presents a problem. The life inhabiting the lake has developed extraordinary adaptations to this and similar problems. Electron micrographs produced by Dr. Nabil Youssef of Utah State University have revealed that unusual quantities of glycogen can be found in the muscle of brine shrimp taken from the Great Salt Lake. The glycogen was found to be associated in large packets rather than being dispersed in small quantities throughout the tissue. It was al so observed that the mitochondria were small, a tendency that might indicate anaerobic rather than aerobic respiration. These observations led to the initiation of this project. Samples of Artemia were collected from the Great Salt Lake and analyzed for glycogen content in an effort to determine the effect of salinity on the mode of respiration.