Sea monkey
Artemia salina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedcrustaceans
The sea monkey (Artemia salina), also called brine shrimp, is a crustacean in the family Artemiidae. It belongs to the genus Artemia, suborder Artemiina, order Anostraca, class Branchiopoda and phylum Arthropoda in the kingdom Animalia.
Quick facts about the sea monkey
Its scientific name carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758), and the Catalogue of Life lists it as a living, not extinct, species.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the sea monkey
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the sea monkey live?
Not recorded
What is the sea monkey?
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 100 million years. 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. Considerable taxonomic confusion exists, and some populations elsewhere have formerly been referred to as this species, but are now recognized as separate species.
From the Wikipedia article “Artemia salina” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Artemia_salina&oldid=1379065222), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the sea monkey endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the sea monkey classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classBranchiopoda
- orderAnostraca
- familyArtemiidae
- genusArtemia
- SpeciesArtemia salina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Artemia eulimene, Artemia salina arietina, Artemia tunisiana, Branchipus oudneyi, Branchipus salina, Callaonella dybowski, Callaonella dybowskii, Cancer salinus, Eulimene albida, Gammarus salinus
Other names and names in other languages (12)
- Brine shrimpEnglish
- PekelkrewelAfrikaans
- žábronožka solnáCzech
- SalinenkrebsGerman
- SalinenkrebschenGerman
- SalzkrebschenGerman
- Artémis des eaux salinesFrench
- Artémis des eaux salines (L')French
- ブラインシュリンプJapanese
- kolczykowiec słonaczekPolish
- АртемияRussian
- solinski rakecSlovenian
Relatives of the sea monkey
Other species in the same genus Artemia.
Mono brine shrimp
Artemia monica
Urmia brine shrimp
Artemia urmiana
New England brine shrimp
Artemia gracilis
CompareSea monkey vs Mono brine shrimpSea monkey vs Urmia brine shrimpSea monkey vs New England brine shrimpSea monkey vs Artemia persimilis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a sea monkey?
The sea monkey is a crustacean in the family Artemiidae, order Anostraca and class Branchiopoda.
What is the scientific name of the sea monkey?
The scientific name of the sea monkey is Artemia salina, in the genus Artemia.
What is another name for the sea monkey?
The sea monkey is also called brine shrimp.
Who named Artemia salina and when?
The authority for Artemia salina is written as (Linnaeus, 1758).
Is the sea monkey extinct?
No, the Catalogue of Life lists the sea monkey as living, not extinct.
What phylum does the sea monkey belong to?
The sea monkey belongs to the phylum Arthropoda in the kingdom Animalia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Sea monkey (Artemia salina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sea-monkey
“Sea monkey (Artemia salina).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sea-monkey.
@misc{sea_monkey_2026,
title = {Sea monkey (Artemia salina)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sea-monkey},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}