Alannah Deer

Mrs. Williams
AP Bio
February 7, 2022

Natural Selection: Brine Shrimp

Abstract:
In this laboratory we were tasked with completing a virtual lab that revealed what percentage of
a salt concentration brine shrimp thrive in. We had four different salt concentrations (0%, 2%,
4%, 8%) that were placed in four different beakers. They were then transferred over to petri
dishes where the brine shrimp were inserted in, in order to measure how many survived. Brine
shrimp can also go into a hibernation-like state that allows them to hatch when conditions are
right. Within the different salinities some brine shrimp hatched, some died, and some stayed in
their cysts.

Introduction:
Brine shrimp are crustaceans that inhabit salty waters around the world, both inland and on the
coast. They are small members of the fairy shrimp family, and are characterized by their tiny size
and unique features essential for adaptability to various living conditions and habitats. Brian
shrimp can be found all over the world but are concentrated in locations like Great Salt Lake in
Utah. Extremely salty waters are not ideal conditions for most organisms. However brine shrimp
have adapted, through natural selection, in order to inhabit these waters. They contain
mitochondria pumps which allows them to transport salt through their membrane. Brine shrimp
have also adapted in the sense that they can enter a state of hibernation that they come out of
whenever the conditions are right for hatching. The purpose of this investigation was to
determine which salinity is ideal for brine shrimp to live in.

Null- as the salinity changes, there will be no affect on how many brine shrimp survive.
Alternative- As the salinity increases, the number of brine shrimp that survive will also increase

Vocabulary-
Dormant cyst- A hibernation like state that brine shrimp enter before hatching when conditions
are not ideal
Mitochondrial pump- this is the factor of natural selection that brine shrimp used to live in very
salty climates, it allows them to pump out the salt through their membrane
Salinity- the amount of salt in the water

Materials:
-brine shrimp eggs
-scissors
-pipettes
-paintbrush
-microscope slides
-tape
-dechlorinated water
-Petri dishes
-permanent marker
-stirring rod
-graduated cylinder
-scale
-weigh boats
-lab spoons
-beakers
-sodium chloride

Procedure:
1. Label 4 beakers (0%, 2%, 4%, 8% NaCl).
2. Make the saline solutions using NaCl and dechlorinated water.
3. Add 30 mL of the salt solution to appropriately labeled petri dishes
4. Place a small strip of the double-sided tape onto four microscope slides.
5. Using a paintbrush gently collect eggs from the brine shrimp bag and place them onto the
microscope slide. You will need to collect data at zero, 24, and 48 hours.

Results/ Data collection and analysis:

0 Hrs 24 Hrs 48 Hrs

# Dead or # Dead or %
% # # # # #
partially partially Hatching
NaCl Cysts Cysts swimming Cysts swimming
hatched hatched Viability

0 23 18 5 0 13 5 0 0

2 20 16 2 2 11 2 3 25

4 20 17 1 2 12 1 4 30

8 21 18 0 3 13 0 5 38
 % Hatching Viability at Each Salt Concentration
Group 0% 2% 4% 8%
Your DATA 0 25 30 38
A 0 22 31 40
B 1 21 34 41
C 0 24 33 42
D 2 22 30 41
E 1 24 31 40
Mean 0.67 23 31.5 40.333
STDEV 0.817 1.55 1.643 1.366
2 SEM 0.67 1.26 1.34 1.12

Formulas/calculation:

Hatching viability= # swimming at 24 hours + # swimming at 48 hours/ total # of cysts at 0

hours

Standard deviation:

Standard error:

Graph:
Discussion and conclusion:
As a result of this experiment we are able to conclude that the brine shrimp survive best in the
8% NaCl solution. Brine shimp’s ideal salinity concentration is higher than the concentration of
the ocean. They are able to survive in these conditions due to the adaptation of their
mitochondrial pumps. Some examples of sources of error could have been temperature of water,
light exposure, cracks in the petri dishes, etc. Compared to the guiding question the ideal salinity
of the shrimp was 8% salinity. We were able to observe that in this salinity the viability percent
of hatching was the highest at 38%. These results would support the alternative hypothesis that
as we increased the salt concentration the percent of shrimp that hatched increased as well. One
way that we could improve this experiment would be by adding a salinity that was higher then
8% in order to determine whether they prefer an even higher salt concentration or if 8% is the
perfect salinity.

Questions:
This investigation could be continued by controlling the temperature of the water in order to
determine which temperature would make the shrimp hatch from their dormant cysts. One
question that this lab generated for me was which other organisms, if any, could survive in this
high of a salinity?

Pre/post lab questions:

Prelab

1. What time of year do cysts hatch? Late april

2. How many different stages do brine shrimp go through as they grow and develop? 14-17
3. What is a dormant cyst? An inactive egg that will resume developing when conditions are
ideal
4. Evolutionary speaking, what advantages would releasing dormitt cyst provide to the
mother? To the offspring? It would allow the species to grow in different areas and would
affect the mother by having her offspring last for many generations
5. What was the purpose of sending Brian shrimp on the Apollo 16 moon mission? To
observe the effect of cosmic rays on bacteria spores
6. How did the cosmic rays affect the Brian shrimp that were exposed to them in the
Bostack one experiment? They were unharmed and were still able to hatch on earth
7. What salt concentrations can brine shrimp withstand? Higher than the ocean
8. What is anhydrobiosis? When do brine shrimp enter the stage? A death like stage that
they enter when conditions are not ideal
9. When a brine shrimp embryo dehydrates, does it die? Can they be brought back to a
living stage? No it does not die it can be brought back to life in a matter of a few hours
10. How does the biological composition of a cyst change as they dehydrate? They produce a
hard outer shell like an egg
11. How to brine shrimp cope with salt? Knowing this, what organelle do you think brine
shrimp cells have a lot of? Why? They have mitochondria pumps meaning they would
have many mitochondria in their cells this helps them pump salt through their membrane
Post lab

1. Which sailing environment had the highest hatching viability? 8

2. Knowing that normal habitat of Brian shrimp, how would you describe the 0% saline
environment? Why? Does this align with the data that was collected? Isotonic meaning
that there is not enough salt, this does match up with the data because zero salinity had
the highest number of deaths
3. Saltwater organisms have a tricky relationship with salt; their cells require salt to function
but excess salt can be deadly. Brian shrimp have a unique adaptation that allows them to
survive and survive salty conditions. Brian shrimp can regulate internal salt conditions
due to the lining in their stomach and gills. The outermost layer of brine shrimp is
impermeable to water, so the only way for salt water to enter is through the mouth during
feeding. While shrimp seed, they will be in just water. This water is later absorbed
through the stomach lining. Salt is pumped out the girls instead of going through the
digestive digestive track, as it would in most other animals. Exam in the chart below
depicting the average output of brine shrimp gills. Answer the following questions on the
next slide a) relatively speaking which environments have high levels of salt? Which
environments have low levels of salt? b) justify your answer to a… a) environment a has
the highest and environment b has the lowest b) environment a would have the highest
salt content due to the highest amount of salt that the shrimp will be pumping out and
environment B has the lowest because the shrimp are pumping out the least amount of
salt in this environment
4. What adaptations have developed over time in Brian shrimp populations that allow for
their survival in a wide range of habitats? They are able to stay in egg form until ideal
conditions are met, they use pumps in order to live in saltwater conditions.
5. define natural selection in your own words. Describe how the Brian shrimp population
represents an example of natural selection. Natural selection picks out trays in organisms
that help them survive and reproduce and make these traits carry on throughout
generations. The shrimp have salt pumps which, given through natural selection, help
them better survive in salty environments.

Literature cited:
https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/gsl/artemia/
https://www.britannica.com/story/how-one-shrimp-used-its-survival-skills-to-become-both-best-
selling-pet-and-astronaut