In the long familiar Branchipus, Chirocephalus and Streptocephalus the males have frontal appendages, but these are wanting in the " brine-shrimp " Artemia, and the same want helps to distinguish Branchinecta (Verrill, 1869) from the old genus Branchipus.
The large amount of salt in the water makes both fauna and flora of the lake scanty; there are a few algae, the larvae of an Ephydra and of a Tipula fly, specimens of what seems to be Corixa decolor, and in great quantities, so as to tint the surface of the water, the brine shrimp, Artemia salina (or gracilis or fertilis), notable biologically for the rarity of males, for the high degree of parthenogenesis and for apparent interchangeableness with the Branchipus.
Newly released juveniles will need newly hatched Artemia and rotifers until they are a few days old.