Artemia salina

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.

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.