Sea monkeys are actually a type of brine shrimp, which is a tiny animal that lives in saltwater. About 60 years ago, an inventor named Harold von Braunhut created sea monkeys. He was fascinated by brine shrimp because they could undergo cryptobiosis, When conditions are good, female brine shrimp release live babies into the water. But when conditions are bad, such as lack of food or water, the female brine shrimp release eggs that have a covering around them called a cyst. These cysts protect the baby brine shrimp inside. The babies will stay inside the cysts until the conditions improve. They can stay in the cysts for a long, long time and can still hatch later on when there is enough water and food to keep them alive. Because brine shrimp can do this, von Braunhut realized that he could put brine shrimp eggs into packages and sell them in stores. The brine shrimp eggs in the package would be in a state of cryptobiosis in their cysts until someone bought them, put them into water, and began to feed them. He thought kids would be fascinated by the creatures, but brine shrimp wasn't a very attractive name. Because they have long tails like monkeys, he decided to name them sea monkeys.