ASTM E1203-98

1.1 This practice describes procedures for hatching, harvesting, and testing the acceptability of brine shrimp nauplii for use as a food for certain fish and invertebrate species that are used in aquatic toxicity tests. The term "brine shrimp" refers to all species in the genus Artemia (1) although this practice specifically deals only with those species for which cysts (encysted embryos) are commercially available.

1.2 These procedures are applicable to all brine shrimp nauplii that are obtained by incubating commercially available cysts. With appropriate processing, cysts collected by noncommercial harvesters can be subjected to these same procedures.

1.3 Modification of these procedures might be justified by special needs or circumstances.

1.4 This practice is organized as follows:

Section Referenced Documents 2 Terminology 3 Summary of Practice 4 Significance and Use 5 Hazards 6 Obtaining Cysts 7 Selecting a Source 7.1 Storage 7.2 Hatching Cysts 8 Harvesting Nauplii 9 Testing Nauplii 10 Feeding Assay 10.1 Chemical and Physical Measurements 10.2 Using Nauplii 11 Report 12

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazard statements are given in Section 6.