A Short Review on the Halotolerant Green Microalga Asteromonas gracilis Artari with Emphasis on Its Uses

The halotolerant green single-celled Asteromonas gracilis isolated from the hypersaline saltern ponds of Messolonghi, Greece, was kept in laboratory cultures, grown effectively at various salinities and used for feeding rotifers, protozoa, copepods and Artemia sp. In all feeding trials all filter feeders accepted A. gracilis and grew. Additionally, as of its morphology, movement and culture reliability Asteromonas is a valuable teaching tool for phycological studies, supreme to the other usual microalgae for this purpose. The exploitation potential of A. gracilis in many sectors awaits research results, as literature data are scarce.