Brine shrimp Artemia is the key animal diet during the course of the penaeid shrimp and crabs＇ larviculture. It is very important for healthy larvae culture to investigate whether it could carry white spot syndrome virus （ WSSV ）. In this study, wild Artemia sp. with eggs and experimentally cultured children Artemia were detected using nested-PCR for the presence of WSSV. Wild adult Artemia sp. were sampled from brine pan from July to October, 2002. 20 control groups were ,set up after ten-days＇ nursery period, that is, one female Artemia with eggs in each 500ml beaker, feeding microalgae. Parents Artemia were taken out after spawning and then frozen at -20℃. About 20 days later, five children ones were taken out and detected by nested-PCR together with the parents, respectively. The results showed that WSSV positive products could be detected in Artemia, not only in wild adult Artemia but also the filial generation, and DNA ,sequence of the amplified product accords with the designed specific amplified one according to sequence analysis using sequence analysis software Bioedit 4.8.8.. The positive rates of wild brine shrimp and the filial generation were 58 % and 43 %, respectively. In addition, there seems to have some relation between parents and filial generation＇ s detecting results of the same genealogies. However, we could not tell whether WSSV could vertically transmit in Artemia or not, and there still needs some work to further verify this. In conclusion, the results showed that brine shrimp Artemia could possibly act as reservoir or mechanical vector for WSSV, thus, Artemia diet during shrimp or crabs＇ larviculture might lead to WSSV infection. Therefore, it is necessary to quarantine the brine shrimp before being fed to shrimp or crabs in order to cultivate healthy larvae.