There’s not much to see because they’re so tiny yet, but I thought it would be fun to take a video of them as they’re in the process of hatching. There are seven now, as I type this, and there were six when I was using the camera. And in the time it took to upload the video, three more hatched. 
video of my pet sea monkeys John, Paul, George, and Ringo
Triops longicaudatus from Rodeo, New Mexico. These living fossils spend most of the year as dried-up eggs in the desert, and hatch when monsoon rains form large puddles. They grow quickly, eating fairy shrimp (also pictured in video), mosquito larvae, snails, and a variety of aquatic invertebrates. They attain a maximum size of about 4 centimeters before laying eggs as the puddles dry up. These animals have changed little in 70 million years. They swim with their many legs (up to 132 in …