| Summary: | Many works have been devoted to the study of the molecular genetic diversity of <i>Artemia</i> in different regions; however, there are regions such as Crimea, the largest peninsula in the Black Sea, which has seen few studies. <i>Artemia</i> specimens from several Crimean hypersaline lakes were analyzed using the mitochondrial marker cytochrome oxidase C (COI). The analyzed individuals from bisexual populations formed clades with the species <i>A. salina</i>, <i>A. urmiana</i>, <i>A. sinica</i>, and <i>A. monica</i> (=<i>A. franciscana</i>). <i>A. sinica</i> and <i>A. monica</i> had not been recorded in Crimea previously. In Lake Adzhigol, the three species <i>A. urmiana</i>, <i>A. sinica</i>, and <i>A. monica</i> were found at the same time, which has not been noted anywhere before. In the Crimean lakes, a total of 10 haplotypes were found, six of them for the first time: Once for <i>A. monica</i>, once for <i>A. sinica</i>, and four for <i>A. salina</i>. Those haplotypes may be regarded as endemic to Crimea. In the 1990s, experiments were carried out in Lake Yanyshskoe using mainly purchased cysts of <i>Artemia</i>, so <i>A. monica</i> and <i>A. sinica</i> were introduced into Crimea and could then have easily been spread by birds to other Crimean lakes.
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