We began a lab today involving brine shrimp. We added the shrimp into different conditions and watched them grow. Since they grow only in a specific salinity, and we had tests in multiple salt levels, it was obvious to tell in which of the conditions they were able to grow. We took a few of the shrimp eggs on a paintbrush and attempted to move them to a glass plate with tape. Needless to say, my shaky hands caused us to collect uneven amounts of the eggs. We were told that the exact amounts did not matter, but as we had to count the eggs individually and record the number for reference, it seemed to matter. While one plate had eggs in the twenties (thanks to Daniel's precise movements), my others ranged from 15 to 60+ eggs.
We prepared water conditions in which the eggs were to grow, consisting of different salinity levels: 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2. Calculating the volume of the water and the necessary salt content to achieve each salinity, we combined the two to form barely-surfacing pools of salt-water.
Placing each of the trays in their specified water tray, we could now rest assured that the shrimp eggs would do the work. We could determine the perfect salinity for brine shrimp habitation by the amount of shrimp that hatched in each condition.
Only time will tell.
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