the role of probiotics supplements, bacillus subtilis and saccharomyces cerevisiae on biological parameters of artemia franciscana in mass cultures

probiotics are beneficial microorganisms of intestine with useful effects on growth and health of the animals by the colonization. in present study, effects of two different probiotic as bacillus subtilis and saccharomyces cerevisiae were investigated on growth parameters, survival, and body composition of a. franciscana. also the resistance against pathogenic bacteria of vibrio campbellii was studied with the animals being exposed to 1× 105cfu per ml of bacteria. the experiment was designed in 4 treatments: treatment one as a control (no probiotic), treatment two (food + bacteria), treatment three (food + yeast) and treatment four (food with equal amounts of yeast and bacteria). the survival and growth rate of the animals were measured on day 8 and 15 of culture period. at the end of the experiment (day 15), the artemia was challenged with pathogenic v. campbellii in which survival of the animals were calculated finally. based on the results, the maximum body size significantly was showed in treatment two that had significant difference with control (p < 0.05). the maximum survival rate without any significant difference was found in treatments two and four (p > 0.05). after 24, 48 and 72 hours of exposure of pathogenic bacteria, the highest and lowest survival rate were found in group four and group control (no probiotic), respectively (p < 0.05). the body composition analyses also revealed the efficiency of probiotic on total ash of the animal by significant difference between treatment three with other treatments (p < 0.05). the highest amount of protein and fat were found in the control and treatment four, respectively (p < 0.05). study on the effect of probiotic of the artemia indicated that the resistance and survival of the exposed animal to the v. campbelii can be enhanced while the animal fed with probiotic supplements.