The San Francisco Bay area and several other hypersaline biotopes are home to a species, or subspecies, of brine shrimp often referred to as the "San Francisco strain" of the more commonly found Artemia franciscana. The newly hatched nauplii of the cysts harvested from these unique biotopes are prized by serious aquarists because of their smaller size and generally higher HUFA value. The San Francisco strain cysts represent only a tiny portion of all cysts which are harvested worldwide and because of their limited numbers.

Brine shrimp are an incredibly efficient and energy-rich source of food. In fact, the amount of protein in brine shrimp can be up to 60 percent of their dry weight. This makes them the perfect choice if you need food to facilitate the growth of young fish.

Their protein content is the primary reason why brine shrimp are such a popular food choice in the aquarist community. However, there are quite a few other benefits as well.

• They engage the hunting instincts of your fish due to their spastic swimming motions. This is good enrichment for your fish, and fun to watch! Many aquarium fish species naturally feed on similar small critters.
• Brine shrimp are easy to eat and easy on the the digestive systems of your fish.
• Due to their salinity tolerance, you can use them as food in both marine and freshwater tanks.
• They rarely contain diseases that can be passed along to your fish, unlike many other live foods sold in aquarium stores.
• Freshly hatched brine shrimp are very tiny and make a great food source for fish fry that are too small to eat anything else.