In 2023, the Utah State Legislature approved H.B. 137, designating the brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) as the official state crustacean. Governor Spencer J. Cox signed the bill into law on March 20, 2023 (Utah Code). 

Representative Rosemary Lesser (D-Ogden) sponsored the bill after 6th grade students at Emerson Elementary School created a petition about why the brine shrimp should be the official Utah state crustacean, where they learned about the importance of the brine shrimp to the Great Salt Lake ecosystem.

Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp or sea monkeys. Brine shrimp are vital to the Great Salt Lake’s ecosystem. 

Artemia franciscana Scientific Classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Branchiopoda
Order: Anostraca – sometimes known as fairy shrimp
Family: Artemiidae
Genus: Artemia
Species: A. franciscana

Sea-Monkeys is a marketing term for brine shrimp (Artemia). Sea-Monkeys were developed in the United States in 1957 by Harold von Braunhut as novelty aquarium pets. They were sold as eggs and intended to be added to water. Sea-Monkeys were marketed in the 1960s and 1970s in comic books using illustrations by the comic-book illustrator Joe Orlando. The illustrations showed humanoid animals that bore no resemblance to the crustaceans, often disappointing the children who purchased them.

The following information was provided by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. 

Brine shrimp are small crustaceans that inhabit salty waters around the world, both inland and on the coast. Ranging from ⅓ of an inch to a ½ inch, these shrimp are much smaller than the ones you eat. In Utah, they are only found in the Great Salt Lake.

The brine shrimp produce eggs (called cysts), which are harvested by private companies and used as food for fish and commercially grown shrimp. The harvest of the brine shrimp cysts contributes to a multi-million dollar industry in Utah, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources manages the brine shrimp population and regulates harvest to help balance a unique ecosystem. The commercial brine shrimp fishery at the Great Salt Lake supplies over 40% of the worldwide demand for brine shrimp, which has an economic impact globally, as well.

The Great Salt Lake and its associated wetlands provide an invaluable food source to around 10 million migratory birds, including about 330 different species. A variety of these birds feed on the brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake, either exclusively or opportunistically, to fuel their long migrations. Eared grebes, in particular, molt while they are migrating through Utah in the fall, which means they are flightless and completely dependent on the brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake for food. They will eat between 25,000 to 30,000 brine shrimp a day.

The brine shrimp play another important role in the Great Salt Lake ecosystem by eating the algae in the lake. The adult shrimp typically freeze and die each December, while the cysts will survive and hatch in March.

“The importance of the brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake ecosystem can’t be overstated,” DWR Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program Manager John Luft said. “We are thrilled about the designation of the brine shrimp as the state crustacean and the attention they are getting for their role at the Great Salt Lake.”

Low lake levels can result in higher salinity (salt concentrations) of the water, which would subsequently decrease the algae that are consumed by the brine shrimp and brine flies. Decreases in algae will ultimately impact the brine shrimp and brine flies, which would then have impacts on the birds that rely on them for food. Additionally, high salinities can directly impact brine shrimp by increasing the osmoregulation demands, which reduces their reproductive capacity and limits their growth.