Key Concepts Brine shrimp have unique structural and behavioral adaptation which allow tham to tolerate dramatic changes in the temperature and salinity of their environment. Background Living things must deal with changes in their environment. Many environmental factors, including temperature, may vary a great deal over time. Changes in temperature affect the rate of development of brine shrimp eggs.
Brine shrimp are remarkable little animals.
They can live in evaporating salt ponds where salinity and temperature increase dramatically. Brine shrimp eggs have adapted to a lack of water because many of the ponds where they live dry up during the summer. The dried up salt along the pond's edge dissolves into the water and provides a ready-made supply of saltwater for the eggs to hatch. The larva shrimp has a round body and two legs by its head. The legs help it swim.