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How Sea-Monkeys Are Better Than Little Brothers and Dogs

	Dog	Little brother	Sea-Monkey
Hungry?	Always Wants dinner	Always wants snacks	Eats only once a week
Smelly?	Needs a bath regularly	Needs a bath everyday	Always clean
Well educated?	Goes to obedience school for a few weeks	Goes to elementary school for a few years	Swims in a school all the time
portable?	Not allowed in most places	Too big to carry	Ready to go anywhere
Favorite exercise?	Likes to jump around and make noise	Likes to jump around your room and make noise	Likes to swim around quietly in a cup

Taken from page 17 of: Nickelodeon Splish: A Look Ma, No Hands Guide To Sea-Monkey's Greatest Show, 1996

"Among the smallest of the crustaceans are the water fleas, fairy shrimp, and brine shrimp (class Branchiopoda). About 800 species are known. Most are freshwater forms less than 0.25 inch (0.6 centimeter) in length. They are filter feeders, removing tiny, edible particles from the water. Water fleas use their second pair of antennae as oars to swim through the water, another example of the diverse uses of the appendages among the crustaceans. Although most water fleas are nearly microscopic in size, some--for example, the genus Daphnia--are an important food source for many freshwater fishes."

"Dead Sea--The extreme salinity allows bathers to float easily, but it prevents most animal and vegetable life, except bacteria and brine shrimp, from inhabiting the lake."

"Great Salt Lake--The salt content makes the lake uninhabitable for all but a few life forms. There is a small crustacean, the brine shrimp Artemia, along with two types of salt flies, some microscopic animals and bacteria, and algae. Pelicans, herons, terns, gulls, and cormorants live along the shores."

"The phylum Arthropoda ("jointed foot") has the largest number of species. In fact, about 90 percent of the million or more species living on the Earth today are arthropods. The insects total more than 800,000 species. Other arthropods include the centipedes and millipedes; the arachnids (spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites); and the crustaceans (barnacles, crabs, crayfish, lobsters, shrimp, water fleas). Obviously, the arthropod body plan has been highly successful. The members of this great phylum live on land, in fresh water, and in salt water. They can walk, fly, burrow, and swim. This is the only invertebrate group with jointed appendages (legs, feet, and antennae)."

"Nearly 30,000 species of arthropods belong to the class Crustacea, which includes the true crabs, shrimps, and lobsters. Crustaceans vary greatly in their behavior and appearance. Most are ocean-dwelling, but some live in fresh water and others on land. Most members of the class have two pairs of sensitive antennae at the front end of the body that are stimulated by touch. Many species are harvested commercially as food."

Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved.