What is a fairy shrimp?
This dainty creature is not a true shrimp, but it could pass for a miniature water fairy. Our American fairy shrimp is very similar to several cousins in the Old World. Some are at home in fresh water and some in salty water, but wherever they make their home, as a rule we do not notice them. The fairy shrimp is only distantly related to the true shrimps of the salty sea. You might mistake the tiny creature for a junior shrimp until you remember that a true shrimp is a ten legged decapod animal. The fairy shrimp has 11 pairs of legs, branched like leafy foliage. They are arranged in two rows of fringe along the underside of his body. Since he measures only about one tenth of an inch, you will need a good magnifying lens to examine him and count his leafy legs. He has a bulky ?Pad and a long jointed tail ending in a two pronged fork. He is a crustacean and his small body is covered with crisp, jointed shell material. It may be difficult to identify and place him in the animal kingdom, b
