Hobbies And Interests
Physical Description
With an average length of about 1/2 inch, brine shrimp have 11 pairs of wing-like limbs that are only visible under a microscope. These appendages enable the shrimp to propel themselves through water with ease, like undulating paddles, and give them the appearance of conventional shrimp.
Environment
Brine shrimp, as indicated by their name, require heavy concentrations of salt in the water in which they live. Although they can survive in water with salt concentrations between 25 and 300 parts per 1000, their ideal ecosystem is 80 parts per 1000, more than twice as salty as the ocean, which is 35 parts salt per 1000. Although they are distant cousins of aquatic crustaceans like crab and lobster, brine shrimp are found only in saltwater environments isolated from seas and oceans such as California's Mono Lake and the Great Salt Lake in Utah, bodies of water that have saltwater streams feeding them but without comparable outflow. On occasion, brine shrimp show up in salt ponds in the desert after a heavy rainstorm.
Reproduction
When female brine shrimp mate for the first time with their male counterparts, they bear live shrimp. Every time they mate thereafter, they produce eggs that are released into the salt water. The eggs may hatch within a few days or become dormant and take years to hatch. If they are in water with a perfect concentration of salt and get the correct amount of food and oxygen, the larva, called a nauplius, will begin molting and reach maturity in three to six weeks. If the eggs are dried, they can be last up to 10 years and be resurrected in water in a matter of minutes.
Brine Shrimp Uses
Brine shrimp are a popular tropical fish food but their greatest contributions have been to science. Because of their tiny size, amenability to different environments, self sufficiency and ease of reproduction, brine shrimp are used for research in ecology, toxicology, molecular biology, genetics, histology and biochemistry. They were used in early space experiments and were key components in testing ultraviolet ray effects on living cells on the U.S. Apollo and U.S.S.R. Cosmos spacecrafts.
Recreational Uses
For years, brine shrimp have been marketed to children as sea monkeys. Children delight at watching the tiny dried creatures, which resemble pieces of cereal or grain, come to life before their eyes when added to water in a fishbowl or other receptacle. As the water saturates the sea monkeys, they bob up and down and appear to be swimming.