Biology 2017 10(1): 114-126 ~ ~ ~ УДК 595.32:591.5 Size Polymorphism and Fluctuating Asymmetry of Artemia (Branchiopoda: Anostraca) Populations from the Crimea Nickolai V. Shadrin* and Elena V. Anufriieva A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Marine Biological Research RAS 2 Nakhimov ave., Sevastopol, 299011, Russia Received 11.11.2016, received in revised form 23.12.2016, accepted 17.01.2017 Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of animals as a measure of ontogenetic stability is widely used in environmental bioindication. <...> Environmental stress leads to increased levels of FA within populations. <...> Artemia (Anostraca) is among the most primitive and ancient groups of crustaceans, inhabiting hypersaline waters worldwide. <...> To assess FA we used length of the first antenna and number of furcal setae on left and right sides. <...> In 2004–2013 the samples were collected from 10 hypersaline lakes in Crimea. <...> Two size groups presented in the studied lakes; diploids constitute a small size group, and polyploids – a larger one. <...> Average length in both groups significantly correlated with salinity. <...> No one directed influence of salinity on FA was found. <...> Changes in salinity can explain not more than 40–55 % of FA variability for studied traits. <...> Parthenogenetic populations of Artemia in Crimean lakes have differences in FA manifestation, which may be explained by differences in water salinity, genetic architecture, and selective pressure against individuals with highest FA. <...> Citation: Shadrin N.V., Anufriieva E.V. Size polymorphism and fluctuating asymmetry of Artemia (Branchiopoda: Anostraca) populations from the Crimea. <...> All rights reserved * Corresponding author E-mail address: snickolai@yandex.ru – 114 – Nickolai V. Shadrin and Elena V. Anufriieva. <...> Size Polymorphism and Fluctuating Asymmetry of Artemia… Размерный полиморфизм и флуктуирующая асимметрия в крымских популяциях Artemia (Branchiopoda: Anostraca) Н. <...> Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) – the small, random, not directed, deviation from symmetry of bilaterally symmetrical traits is the phenotypic outcome of developmental instability – an individual inability to buffer its development against random noise (Waddington, 1942, 1957; Dongen, 2006). <...> Less optimal environment leads to increased developmental noise; this results – 115 – Nickolai V. Shadrin and Elena V. Anufriieva. <...> As a consequence, the average unsigned deviation from symmetry, to which the term FA typically refers, has <...>