brine shrimp

brine shrimp
a small crustacean, Artemia salina, of the order Anostraca, common to saline lakes, including Great Salt Lake in Utah.
[1830-40]

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Any of several small crustaceans (genus Artemia) inhabiting brine pools and other highly salty inland waters throughout the world.

A. salina, which occurs in vast numbers in Great Salt Lake, Utah, is commercially important. Young brine shrimp hatched there from dried eggs are used widely as food for fish and other small animals in aquariums. Up to 0.6 in. (15 mm) long, the brine shrimp's body has a distinguishable head and a slender abdomen. It normally swims upside down, and it feeds primarily on green algae, which it filters from the water with its legs.

Brine shrimp (Artemia salina)

Douglas P. Wilson

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 (genus Artemia), any of several small crustaceans of the order Anostraca (class Branchiopoda) inhabiting brine pools and other highly saline inland waters throughout the world. Artemia salina, the species that occurs in vast numbers in Great Salt Lake, Utah, is of commercial importance. Young brine shrimp hatched there from dried eggs are used widely as food for fish and other small animals in aquariums. Measuring up to 15 mm (0.6 inch) in length, the body of the brine shrimp has a discrete head with a nauplius (larval) eye and stalked compound eyes, a thorax bearing a series of leaflike limbs, and a slender abdomen without appendages. Brine shrimp normally swim in an upside down position by rhythmically beating their legs. They feed primarily on green algae, which they filter from the water with their legs.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Brine shrimp — Brine Brine, n. [AS. bryne a burning, salt liquor, brine, fr. brinnan, brynnan, to burn. See {Burn}.] 1. Water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt; pickle; hence, any strong saline solution; also, the saline residue or strong mother… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • brine shrimp — brine′ shrimp n. ivt any fairy shrimp of the genus Artemia • Etymology: 1830–40 …   From formal English to slang

  • brine shrimp — n. any of a genus (Artemia) of small fairy shrimp found in salt lakes and marshes and used as living, frozen, or dried food in aquariums …   English World dictionary

  • Brine shrimp — Taxobox name = Brine shrimp image caption = Artemia salina regnum = Animalia phylum = Arthropoda subphylum = Crustacea classis = Branchiopoda ordo = Anostraca familia = Artemiidae familia authority = Grochowski, 1895 genus = Artemia genus… …   Wikipedia

  • brine shrimp — noun common to saline lakes • Syn: ↑Artemia salina • Hypernyms: ↑branchiopod crustacean, ↑branchiopod, ↑branchiopodan • Member Holonyms: ↑Artemia, ↑genus Artemia, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • brine shrimp — Artemia nauplii are used as food for fry in aquaria and, to a limited extent, adult brine shrimp may be fed to larger fish. They are not very nutritious and should not be used as the sole food. The nauplii are hatched from purchased cysts in warm …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • brine shrimp — noun a small fairy shrimp which lives in brine pools and salt lakes and is used as food for aquarium fish. [Artemia salina.] …   English new terms dictionary

  • brine shrimp — /ˈbraɪn ʃrɪmp/ (say bruyn shrimp) noun any branchiopod crustacean of the cryptobiotic genus Artemia …  

  • brine shrimp — noun Date: 1836 any of a genus (Artemia) of branchiopod crustaceans that can exist in strongly saline environments …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • brine shrimp — noun An aquatic crustacean of the taxonomic order Artemia, one species of which is often marketed under the name Sea Monkey as a novelty gift …   Wiktionary

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