Artemia spp. (Crustacea, Anostraca) in Crimea: New Molecular Genetic Results and New Questions without Answers

Many works have been devoted to the study of the molecular genetic diversity of Artemia in different regions; however, there are regions such as Crimea, the largest peninsula in the Black Sea, which has seen few studies. Artemia specimens from several Crimean hypersaline lakes were analyzed using the mitochondrial marker cytochrome oxidase C (COI). The analyzed individuals from bisexual populations formed clades with the species A. salina, A. urmiana, A. sinica, and A. monica (=A. franciscana). A. sinica and A. monica had not been recorded in Crimea previously. In Lake Adzhigol, the three species A. urmiana, A. sinica, and A. monica were found at the same time, which has not been noted anywhere before. In the Crimean lakes, a total of 10 haplotypes were found, six of them for the first time: Once for A. monica, once for A. sinica, and four for A. salina. Those haplotypes may be regarded as endemic to Crimea. In the 1990s, experiments were carried out in Lake Yanyshskoe using mainly purchased cysts of Artemia, so A. monica and A. sinica were introduced into Crimea and could then have easily been spread by birds to other Crimean lakes.