Abstract

In four samples of Artemia urmiana Günther, 1899 from Urmia Lake, Iran, the following parameters were compared: the diameter of the frontal knobs (right and left), and the respective ratios of that diameter with total body length and head width. The results do not denote significant differences in frontal knob diameter that would agree with similar results observed in frontal knob diameter in populations of A. franciscana Kellogg, 1906 and A. persimilis Piccinelli & Prosdocimi, 1968. However, we report differences in the other parameters studied for each of the populations studied, that could be explained by the environmental heterogeneity of the studied site. Ecological, biogeographical, and systematic issues related with the results are discussed. © 2008 Brill Academic Publishers.