Introduction
Purchase Artemia salina or brine shrimp eggs from a fish store. A brine solution must be prepared beforehand. This study also requires the following:
- assigned toxin;
- 4 toothpicks;
- 1 large pipet;
- 3 small pipets;
- 4 petri dishes;
- rulers;
- dissecting microscope.
The eggs of Artemia salina were handled under proper conditions in order to ensure that all the eggs used in the study were all alive. It was estimated that if one will dip a toothpick marked 0.6 cm from the end, then the average number of eggs that was stuck to the toothpick were more or less 100. At the initial stage of the experiment there was a need to add a 10 ml brine solution to each petri dish. Afterwards, these must be labelled according to the amount of toxins that were applied. In petri dish #1, add 0.1 ml of toxin. In petri dish #2, add 0.25 ml of the toxin. In petri dish #3, add 0.5 ml of the toxin. In petri dish #4, there is no need to add the toxin.
Use toothpicks to transfer the eggs of Artemia salina to the petri dish. Each toothpick must be marked 0.6 cm from the end. Wet the toothpicks with brine solution. Afterwards, dip the toothpick up to 0.6 cm into the setup that contains the brine shrimp eggs. Transfer the eggs by submerging the toothpick into each of the petri dish. It is important to keep on stirring until all the eggs were dislodged from the toothpick and transferred to the petri dish. Use a fresh toothpick with the same marking every time brine shrimp eggs will be transferred to each of the petri dish. After 168 hours, use a dissecting microscope to observe all four petridishes. The researchers must record the number of dead and live brine shrimps.
Results
In petri dish #1 the brine solution was infused with a 0.1 ml of the toxin. After 168 hours, the prescribed time period to wait and observe the effect of the toxin, it was discovered that there was a 97% rate of mortality. The same procedure was used for petri dish #2 and the only difference is the 0.25 ml infusion of toxin. It was discovered that there was also a 97% mortality rate. Petri dish #3 had a higher concentration of toxin at 0.5 ml but the mortality rate was less at 94%. Interestingly, the petri dish #4 also exhibited a high mortality rate at 96%.
It was also discovered that Artemia salina was highly sensitive to the assigned toxin. At the same time the effect of the toxic substance to the morphology of the brine shrimp was also observed. The change was confirmed when the results were examined under a microscope. The researchers pointed out that the organism was negatively affected by the toxicant because of the failure in development of appendages and mandible function as well as the absence of anal opening and the presence of darker color, the signal that there was abnormality.
Fig. 1. The effect of toxin on brine shrimp eggs
It was also reported that a dead egg can also mean that it did not mature. It was therefore made clear that the toxin was able to affect the brine shrimp eggs. It was also made clear that the effect of the toxin was also evident in the development of the hatchlings. However, it must be highlighted that in petri dish #4, where no toxin was used the mortality rate was still high.