Home / Invertebrates / Brine shrimp / Brine shrimp (sea monkeys)

No federal permit to keep

Brine shrimp (sea monkeys)

Artemia salina

Invertebrates › Brine shrimp (Anostraca) › Artemiidae (Brine shrimp)

Artemia salina is a species of brine shrimp – aquatic crustaceans that are more closely related to Triops and cladocerans than to true shrimp.

Aquarium hobby

Experience: Beginner

FamilyBrine shrimp

Adult lengthup to 0.6 in

WaterSaltwater

HabitatPelagic-neritic

Care at a glance

Species-specific values

Values researched for this exact species. Where they differ from the group guide below, follow these. Air, surface and water temperatures are listed separately, and each source is kept as published rather than averaged.

Adult culture salinity	35–40 ppt Supplier culture labelled A. salina; verify actual stock identity because commercial Artemia can be other species.	385
Adult culture water temperature	68–79 degF Adult culture recommendation; not cyst hatching temperature.	385
Cyst hatching water temperature	80–82 degF Warm hatch condition, distinct from adult culture.	385

Care guide

Group care guide

Fairy shrimp, triops and water fleas

Applies to most species in this group. Habitat: Temporary pools. Individual species can differ, so compare with the species numbers above and the linked sources.

Housing & setup

Separate freshwater cultures from Artemia brine shrimp: Artemia need saline culture water, suitable temperature and aeration. Adding water alone does not define a workable hatch or adult culture.

Sources 119 385 386

Diet

Use culture-specific suspended foods in small amounts: Daphnia can use green water or yeast preparations; Artemia can use fine algal/yeast foods. Overfeeding can foul culture water.

Sources 119 385 386

Health watch

Short-lived by nature.

Sources 119 385 386

Understanding the animal

About this animal

It belongs to a lineage that does not appear to have changed much in 100 million years. It is also one of the largest brine shrimp species.

Quoted from the Wikipedia article “Artemia salina” (CC BY-SA 4.0) 174

In the wild

Quoted from the matching sections of reputable sources for this exact species. Specialist databases are used first; Wikipedia (community-edited, CC BY-SA 4.0) only fills gaps. Other sources are short credited quotes.

Overview	Artemia salina is a species of brine shrimp – aquatic crustaceans that are more closely related to Triops and cladocerans than to true shrimp. It belongs to a lineage that does not appear to have changed much in. It is also one of the largest brine shrimp species. Artemia salina is native to saline lakes, ponds, and temporary waters (not seas) in the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe, Anatolia, and Northern Africa. — Wikipedia (community-edited)
Where it lives	Pelagic-neritic; brackish; depth range 0 - 2 m. Tropical, preferred 23°C; 52°N - 35°S, 123°W - 75°E Circumglobal. — SeaLifeBase
Wild diet	Artemia salina live on photosynthetic green algae, one type is Dunaliella. — Animal Diversity Web
Reproduction	Reproduction mode may be oviparous or oviviparous, depending on environmental conditions. Life cycle: Eggs may either develop into nauplia (larvae) or may stay as cysts (dormant) to survive the drought period before hatching into nauplia. — SeaLifeBase
Appearance and size	Maximum length 1.5 cm tl male/unsexed. — SeaLifeBase
Biology	Inhabits extreme environments such as salt lakes or brine waters, coastal or inland, just like saline lakes, and coastal salterns. Its nauplii is an irreplaceable live feed for marine and shrimp larvae. Latent eggs cysts are known to withstand long drought periods at severe hypersalinity. — SeaLifeBase
History and naming	Artemia salina was first described (as Cancer salinus) by Carl Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758. This was based on a report by a German named Schlosser, who had found Artemia at Lymington, England. That population is now extirpated, although specimens collected there are retained in zoological museums. — Wikipedia (community-edited)
Conservation	There is no threat for the brine shrimp, because it reproduces quickly. — Animal Diversity Web

Profile

Researched for this exact species. Sources are listed under In the wild above.

History

Artemia salina was first described (as Cancer salinus) by Carl Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758. This was based on a report by a German named Schlosser, who had found Artemia at Lymington, England. That population is now extirpated, although specimens collected there are retained in zoological museums.

Data and studies

The numbers

Each bar is what one source reports. Where several sources weigh in, the dashed gold band marks their average.

Adult length

Reported0.6in

SeaLifeBase 1650.6

Maximum recorded length. Measured as total length.

Veterinary & husbandry research

Artemia species: An Important Tool to Screen General Toxicity Samples Ntungwe N E et al., Current pharmaceutical design 2020
Trends and New Developments in Artemia Research Azra MN et al., Animals: an open access journal from MDPI 2022
Behavior of Antimicrobial Peptide K4 in a Marine Environment Houyvet B et al., Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins 2019
Functional Characterization of Probiotic Potential of Novel Pigmented Bacterial Strains for Aquaculture Applications Jinendiran S et al., Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins 2019

Peer-reviewed papers that mention this species alongside captivity, zoos, veterinary care or aquaculture. Some cover several species or mention it only in passing, so check the abstract. See all 50 on PubMed → 170

Federal legal snapshot

No federal permit to keep

No federal law singles out this species for private keepers. State and local rules still apply.

State law decides most of it. Each state sets its own permits and bans for exotic, native, venomous and dangerous animals, and cities and counties can be stricter. Find your state agency →

Not covered by the Animal Welfare Act

The Act only covers warm-blooded animals. Reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates have no federal care standards, even at licensed facilities; state and local rules may still apply.

Kept in captivity?

Every species on this site needs evidence that people actually keep it. For this one:

Included in our hand-checked list of animals kept as pets, livestock or in zoos
41 iNaturalist observations of captive animals

Sources for this sheet

SeaLifeBase (Palomares & Pauly, eds.), version 24.07 Peer-reviewed researchFishBase's sister database for non-fish marine and freshwater life; values are referenced.
Merck Veterinary Manual: Types and features of aquatic systems Zoo, university or veterinaryThe Merck Veterinary Manual: a standard veterinary reference written and reviewed by veterinary specialists.
Carolina Biological Supply: Living Organism Care Guide—Brine Shrimp Specialist retailerAdded in the 2026 source-checked care-guide review.
Carolina Biological Supply: Living Organism Care Guide—Daphnia Specialist retailerAdded in the 2026 source-checked care-guide review.
GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) Peer-reviewed researchInternational scientific taxonomy used here for classification.
Wikipedia (species article) Community referenceFree encyclopedia; useful overviews with their own citations. Intro text is quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0.
PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine) Peer-reviewed researchIndex of peer-reviewed veterinary, zoo and husbandry research.
iNaturalist (captive observations) Community referenceCommunity observation platform run by the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic; observations marked captive show animals living in homes, zoos and aquariums.