Brine shrimp is a small marine invertebrate creature. They have a discrete head with an elongated body. They belong to the Class Brachiopods, a class of crustaceans that commonly have an exoskeleton, jointed limbs, two antennae, and gills.

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The common brine shrimp, with leaflike limbs and slender abdomen without appendages, lives in saltwater lakes. They can survive in freshwater for only 30 minutes or a little longer. They are filter feeders and feed on unicellular algae and bacteria, clearing water and considering ecosystem engineers. This article will discuss what their bodies are made up of and what type of appearance they have.

What Brine Shrimp Look Like?

Brine shrimps are unsubstantial-looking marine animals. The body of brine shrimp is divided into three parts and 19 segments: the head (2 segments), the thorax (11 segments), and the abdomen (6 segments). The entire body of brine shrimp is covered in an exoskeleton which they shed periodically throughout their lives. They can measure up to 0.6 inches in length and are bright orange.

The head is divided into two sections: two antennae and eyes. They have two types of eyes, two widely separated compound eyes mounted on flexible stalks that are main optical sense organs, and a single unstalked naupliar eye at the anterior end. The other section of the head bears jaws.

The thorax has 11 pairs of flat and leaflike appendages(limbs) known as phyllopod that help them swim by rhythmically beating their legs. The gills of brine shrimp are also located at their limbs which helps in respiration. They have feeders allocated on their feet that take food from water and pass them to their mouth. The six segments of the abdomen are nearly cylindrical and exist at the end of the body, appear as a tail.