Brine shrimps

Code OD019999

Anostracan crustaceans. The Anostraca are shrimp-like crustaceans with a distinct head and an elongate body without any form of carapace. The thoracic appendages are foliose (plate-like or leaf-like) and act as gills as well as swimming organs. All Australian species have an 11-segmented thorax and an eight-segmented abdomen. Members of this order typically swim ventral side uppermost.

Males of Artemiidae can be readily identified to family by the shape of the penes (rigid but without spines) and the antennae (elbowed, held as grasping organs). Females can be distinguished by a combination of two more-difficult characters, (i) the labrum is without a spine (unlike in Branchiopodidae), and (ii) the telson is poorly developed and not distinct from the final abdominal segment (unlike in Thamnocephalidae).

There is only one Australian species, the introduced brine shrimp Artemia salina, common in coastal salt pans.

Reference:

Williams, W.D. (1980) Australian Freshwater Life: The Invertebrates of Australian Inland Waters. The Macmillan Company of Australia, Melbourne.