{"id":81,"date":"2014-10-09T22:29:01","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T22:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pub.arhien.org\/wp\/respectingnature\/?p=81"},"modified":"2026-06-27T02:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:08:15","slug":"sea-monkeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arhien.org\/In-Praise-Of-Biodiversity\/2014\/10\/09\/sea-monkeys\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Sea-Monkeys – How tiny invertebrates probably impact the global climate"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Feature image credits: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. \t\nAttribution: \u00a9 Hans Hillewaert. (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Brine_shrimp#\/media\/File:Artemia_salina_4.jpg)<\/em><\/font><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Small sea-dwelling organisms impact human life through commerce and probably also through ocean currents, and, ultimately, the climate<\/span><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Sea-Monkeys<\/strong> – Do these really exist ? Yes, they do thanks to a Mr. Harold van Braunhut, except that they are not monkeys. He popularised the use of brine-shrimps<\/em> as part of a water purifier. He did this in 1957, and gave the name Sea-Monkey to brine-shrimps in 1962. (Read all about it here<\/a>.) They are also known as Aqua Dragons<\/a>. Brine-shrimps or branchiae-legged crayfish (=crayfish with gills on their legs), refer to species of the genus Artemia<\/em>. Artemia spp.<\/em> belong to the phylum Arthropoda, the class Branchiopoda, the order Anostraca, and the family Artemiidae.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

As a group, Artemia spp<\/em>. occur in most of the world: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Australia. It\u2019s an old group, evolutionary speaking, having lived together with dinosaurs 100 million years ago. A. spp.<\/em> are tiny, about 10 mm long, some up to 20 mm. Their biology is interesting. One species, A. parthenogenetica<\/em>, can reproduce without males present. Eggs can survive for years in a dried state to hatch later, a phenomenon known as cryptobiosis.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The commerce of Sea-Monkeys<\/span><\/h2>

However, this blog is not about details of the biology of such species, however interesting. If you\u2019re interested in that there is plenty of information on the internet, for example the page on A. salina<\/em> in Wikipedia,<\/a> or the one on Sea-Monkeys<\/a>. There is also a website dedicated to Artemia<\/em>: Artemia World<\/a> (a company dealing in Artemia<\/em> products).<\/p>

This blog is about the importance of biodiversity, more specifically, for the well being, if not survival, of us, human beings, directly or indirectly. So how do we relate to these small crayfish?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Past delicacy<\/span><\/h2>

According to Artemia World, brine-shrimps were in the past used as food by a\/o American Indians (notably in Utah, where they were found in Utah\u2019s Salt Lake), and Arabs, who made a paste out of brine-shrimps caught in the Nile, this being known in both cases as delicious food.<\/p>

Nowadays Artemia<\/em> is exclusively used as fish fodder. In the more recent past, this was mainly for aquarium enthusiasts. According to Artemia World, A. spp<\/em>. are good as aquarium fodder during all three phases of their life cycles, as eggs, as larvae (the so-called Nauplius larva), and as adult. The phenomenon of cryptobiosis makes storage of Artemia<\/em>-based fodder very convenient. Eggs (or cysts) can be stored long term if kept dry, and still provide living fodder later.<\/p>

Where Artemia<\/em> really has an impact though is in aquaculture. It is used on an industrial scale to feed prawns, crabs, hermits and lobsters. Artemia World also writes that a boom in the 1970s of marine culture of \u201cevrigalin\u201d salt-water fish in the mediterranean was based on A. spp<\/em>. (But I could not find what \u201cevrigalin\u201d refers to. If anybody knows? \u2026.) There are a number of websites of companies that sell Artemia<\/em> products and give details on nutrition value and the like (including Artemia World).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n
\n