Artemia salina

Previous records in the Algerian Sahara. Chegga Oasis, Chott Djeloud, Chott Ouargla (Vanhaecke et al. 1987), Chott Merouane (Zemmouri 1991; Samraoui et al. 2006), Chott Melghir (Samraoui et al. 2006), Chott Merouane (De Los Ríos-Escalante & Amarouayache 2016). Previous records in the Hauts Plateaux and coastal area. The species has been recorded in Dayet Morselli, Gharabas Lake, Sebket Djendli, Garaet Ezzemoul, Sebket Oran, Sebkhet Arzew, Salin de Bethioua (Vanhaecke et al. 1987), Sebkhet Arzew, Garaet Ezzemoul, Sebkhet Sidi Bouzian, and Mellaha Guergour El-Amri (Zemmouri 1991), Sebkhet Arzew, and Garaet Ezzemoul (Samraoui et al. 2006), Garaet Ezzemoul (Amarouayache et al. 2010), Sebket Oran, Bethioua, Setif (Ghomari 2011), Chott el Hodna, Garaet Ezzemoul, Sebkhet Sidi Chami (De Los Ríos-Escalante & Amarouayache 2016).

Comments. Along with the potential occurrence of A. tunisiana (Bowen & Sterling, 1978), the invasive A. franciscana was documented in neighboring Tunisia by Ben Naceur et al. (2010) and Morocco (Amat et al. 2005). However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the putative distribution of these two Artemia species in Algeria. In the broader Maghreb region, A. salina has been observed exclusively in semiarid to hyperarid regions (Thiéry 1987; Marrone et al. 2016; this study). This pattern suggests that A. salina does not occur in the humid and subhumid regions of the Maghreb. The reasons for this restricted distribution require further investigation.