SEA-MONKEYS® FUN FACTS

SEA-MONKEYS® FUN FACTS

  • Every year on May 16, people celebrate these fascinating aquatic creatures on INTERNATIONAL SEA-MONKEYS® DAY.
  • Sea-Monkeys® are BORN WITH A SINGLE EYE. As they mature, two additional eyes develop, and the middle eye disappears.
  • Baby Sea-Monkeys® are ATTRACTED TO LIGHT, while adults tend to avoid it.
  • They SWIM UPSIDE DOWN in a PERPETUAL BACKSTROKE.
  • Sea-Monkeys® have 11 LEGS and BREATHE THROUGH THEIR FEET.
  • They can reproduce in five different ways.
  • Their eggs (cysts) can remain in SUSPENDED ANIMATION for years, waiting for the right conditions to hatch.
  • Sea-Monkeys® belong to the genus Artemia, which diverged from a common ancestor in the Mediterranean around 5.5 MILLION YEARS AGO.
  • Their lineage has remained largely unchanged for approximately 100 MILLION YEARS!
  • They inhabit about 500 BODIES OF WATER WORLDWIDE, including natural salt lakes and man-made salterns, where seawater evaporates to produce salt.
  • In Utah’s GREAT SALT LAKE, they play a crucial role by eating algae and keeping the water cleaner.
  • Despite their small size, they are the largest animals in the Great Salt Lake, growing just over 0.4 inches (1 cm) long.
  • They are an ESSENTIAL FOOD SOURCE for migratory birds and support a multi-million-dollar fishing industry in Utah.
  • Ironically, Sea-Monkeys® are not MONKEYS, do not live in the SEA, and aren’t technically SHRIMP—they are crustaceans.
  • FLAMINGOS get their PINK COLOR from eating brine shrimp! Brine shrimp consume algae rich in carotenoid pigments, which gives them a pinkish-orange hue. When flamingos eat the shrimp, the pigment transfers to their feathers.


FACTS ABOUT CRUSTACEANS:

  • Crustaceans are dominant marine ARTHROPODS and play an essential role in aquatic food webs.
  • They are INVERTEBRATES with jointed limbs and EXOSKELETONS, belonging to the phylum Arthropoda and the subphylum Crustacea.
  • There are over 50,000 KNOWN SPECIES of crustaceans worldwide.
  • Some crustaceans are EXTREMOPHILES, meaning they thrive in extreme environments like hot springs, ice caps, and hydrothermal vents. These habitats endure intense temperatures, pressure, radiation, salinity, or pH levels.
  • The SMALLEST CRUSTACEAN, Stygotantulus stocki, measures less than 0.1 millimeters, making it invisible to the naked eye.
  • Tiny crustaceans are IMPORTANT SCAVENGERS, recycling waste and debris back into the food chain.
  • The LARGEST CRUSTACEAN relative of the Sea-Monkey® is the JAPANESE SPIDER CRAB, which can grow up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) across.
  • Some crustaceans, like the Japanese spider crab, can live up to 100 YEARS, making them among the OLDEST ANIMALS ON EARTH.