# Brine shrimp mating habits **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868 "2005-04-05T17:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/1 "2005-04-05T17:02:06Z")
So, I’ve got a set of sea monkeys to keep me entertained. I’ve had them for about 3 weeks, and I just looked over and noticed one on top of the other one, and them swimming around erratically. For some reason, I thought sea monkeys would mate much like fish. The female would lay the eggs, and then the male would come along and fertalize them. So, were my sea monkeys fighting, or were they just f\*cking? ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/2 "2005-04-05T17:09:32Z")
Yeah, this was supposed to be in GQ…how’d I muddle that up. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/3 "2005-04-05T17:12:03Z")
I’m not sure about the whole mating thing… I had a bunch of sea monkeys die, until there was only one left in the tank. Weeks later, there were suddenly a batch of brand new sea monkeys. Maybe the one was already fertilized? I dunno. Confusing little buggers. (Then I went on vacation for two and a half weeks. My cube neighbor fed them a coupla times, but all but 4 were dead when I came back. Now there’s only one; I’m waiting to see if s/he spontaneously reproduces, too.) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/4 "2005-04-05T17:49:25Z")
Brine shrimp lay eggs, so it’s possible that a bunch of fertilized eggs were just laying around in the tank somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/5 "2005-04-05T18:12:09Z")
> [@](#): > > So, were my sea monkeys fighting, or were they just f\*cking? According to the manual as I remember it, your Sea Monkeys were doing the reproduction dance. > [@](#): > > I had a bunch of sea monkeys die, until there was only one left in the tank. Weeks later, there were suddenly a batch of brand new sea monkeys. Maybe the one was already fertilized? If you look at a lady Sea Monkey you’ll see a dark mass in her abdomen if she’s knocked up. Again per the manual, the eggs can be dormant for a while and then suddenly hatch. That is after all how the Sea Monkeys get to you in the first place; dormant fertilized eggs get shipped out in the kit. I have a tank where all the Sea Monkeys shuffled off this mortal coil and then a week or so later I had an active tank again. Later the tank died out again and I’ve been patiently waiting for it to spring forth anew but alas it has yet to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/6 "2005-04-05T18:46:30Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I have a tank where all the Sea Monkeys shuffled off this mortal coil and then a week or so later I had an active tank again. Later the tank died out again and I’ve been patiently waiting for it to spring forth anew but alas it has yet to happen. Have you let the water evaporate, and then rehydrate the tank? That’s what you’re supposed to do. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/7 "2005-04-05T19:53:32Z")
First, just to clear up one misconception, while some fish are egg-layers, many others are “live-bearers,” such as mollies and guppies. In the case of sea monkeys, apparently they can mate both sexually and asexually! As for what your sea monkeys were doing, indeed they were mating. Here’s a cute web page that has videos of sea monkeys mating so you can compare the behavior to what you saw: [http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/smvideos.htm](http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/smvideos.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/8 "2005-04-05T20:15:58Z")
> [@Electronic Chaos](#): > > Have you let the water evaporate, and then rehydrate the tank? That’s what you’re supposed to do. I’ve been evaporating for _months_. Not sure why it’s such slow going. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/9 "2005-04-05T20:27:05Z")
Did you take the lid off? ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/10 "2005-04-05T20:38:25Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Here’s a cute web page that has videos of sea monkeys mating so you can compare the behavior to what you saw: [http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/smvideos.htm](http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/smvideos.htm) Hey now, I’m pretty sure that violates the two click rule 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/11 "2005-04-05T20:45:24Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > If you look at a lady Sea Monkey you’ll see a dark mass in her abdomen if she’s knocked up. No, no, _no_ . . . [sigh] Let me explain things to you. If you look at a lady Sea Monkey you’ll see a blonde flip hairdo. If you look at a male Sea Monkey, you’ll see a crown, and he may be tolding a trident, too. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/12 "2005-04-05T20:51:57Z")
::slowly takes the pamphlet out of Eve’s hands:: (I think my kids were expecting exactly that, though) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/13 "2005-04-05T20:56:42Z")
It would be a mistake at this point to mention that I feed brine shrimp to my Killifish, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/14 "2005-04-05T21:07:51Z")
Big deal. I used to feed the little seamonkeys to several different varieties of tropical fish. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/15 "2005-04-05T21:25:20Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > I used to feed the little seamonkeys to several different varieties of tropical fish. Then I can count on you. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/16 "2005-04-05T21:35:17Z")
So, has anyone besides [this guy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=249524) tried to replicate Cartman’s famous experiment with sea monkeys? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/17 "2005-04-05T21:55:58Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > No, no, _no_ . . . > > [sigh] > > Let me explain things to you. If you look at a lady Sea Monkey you’ll see a blonde flip hairdo. If you look at a male Sea Monkey, you’ll see a crown, and he may be tolding a trident, too. A blonde flip doesn’t preclude her having a dark mass in her belly. Look at Samantha on Bewitched. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brine-shrimp-mating-habits/297868/18 "2005-04-05T22:22:07Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > So, has anyone besides [this guy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=249524) tried to replicate Cartman’s famous experiment with sea monkeys? No, and if you try to come over and jizm in my Sea Monkeys, bad things will happen. Bad, bad things.