Samantha Greene1
1 Department of Environmental Cuteness, Cranberry-Lemon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Abstract
When the Great 
Salt
Lake
was cut
in two by an earthen 
railroad causeway, few biologists knew
how much the biome
of the Northern half would change. Due to the significant increase in salinity of the Northern half of the lake with few drainages, the 
body
of water continued to become saltier and saltier like my cousins when you bring up politics. Normally, humans have terrible effects on the 
environment
like that dirty scam artist Wyatt Johnson cutting down beautiful trees! This time, they've adorably microscopic 
pink
creatures 
turning 
half 
the 
lake 
Hot Pink
!
Keywords: Biology, Salinity, Brine Shrimp, Carotenoids, high salinity creatures, adorable little, 
tiny
pink things!
1. Boring Brine Shrimp
These 
adorbs
shrimps love the salts, they can survive
in salinity levels of 25-250%! Leave it to these 
sweet
guys to eat enough 
carotenoid 
pigments
to be super pink and turn the water this lovely color
! Fun fact about brine 
shrimp. Their eggs are in a dormant state and hatch whenever there is water which allowed them to be marketed as the pet 
Sea 
Monkeys
!
2. Chloroalga Halophytotardigradu (Pink Chloroalga Water Bear)
This little 
cute
guy
is also known as the Water Bear
of the West or the Pink Water Bear
! Oh, MAH GOSH, I WISH I could keep one as a 
pet
, but I would need a 
microscope just to 
see them! Only discovered in the West, these cuties become coated in hot pink Algae.
3. Pink Algae
Growing in bodies of water 20-35% salinity, Pink Algae 
thrive
like you couldn't surmize! Using the same Carotenoid found in 
carrots
, they coat their membranes
with a 
protective 
red layer which gives a 
reddish-pinkish hue to the water they 
thrive in. At the end of the day
, these little 
guys, too small for a close-up
, are the primary reason 
anything in the lake is pink.
4. Fungihalophilus Coralliumrosa (Pink Coral-like Salt Fungus)
While most 
fungi would never be able to 
survive in a large
salty body of water
or even in a 
desert
as 
dry as 
Utah's, this 
cute-as-a-button
little dude here plops around shooting pink spores everywhere in the Great Salt Lake. As Abso-LUTELY ADORABLE as they are, please don't touch them
or you'll 
die in under an 
hour as they grow in your 
bloodstream.
5. Salinodermata Lichenovorus (Saline Pink Dust Mite)
Who
said dust
mites had to be 
disgusting
? When coated with 
glorious salt Carotenoid they are 
FAB-U-LOUS
! I just want to get up 
close to one and hug
it and tell it that it's 
OKAY
even if the state government of Utah keeps trying to irradicate its' existence. Though, it would be a 
good 
idea to keep your distance
as your skin
will itch
for days
if they ever get a chance to 
lay 
eggs
in your pores.
6. Diatomsalinitas Rosachitin (Saline Pink Chitin Diatom)
These diatom-like
creatures 
grew
up so 
fast and 
quickly in the Great Salt 
Lake. They grow a protective pink armor or Carotenoidnanium which blocks out all the salt from interfering with their 
delicate wittle digestive
system. We'll never 
know how many 
legs
they actually have. Any 
time
these 
wittle guys
walk
up
on you
be quick
and take a 
pic! But do 
beware, they have been 
known to carry
a rare form of the 
Bubonic Plague so keep your distance
.
7. Halofloraemulsia Rosapolymer (Saline Pink Emulsion Goop Monster)
Counter to all
of the other pink creatures getting their 
pigment from ingesting carotenoid-covered algae, this Emulsion Goop
Monster
has actually adapted active
camouflage
to 
sneak
up and trap 
animal
nutrients in its pink sticky
exterior. Often 
confused
with gelatinous forms of pink algae, the Halofloraemulsia Rosapolymer is 
something completely 
different. Some people
think these guys are ugly
, but I think they're actually misunderstood
, and their goop
is good for you as it is harvested to produce 
Pepto Bismol.
8. Katy Perry
Okay so maybe 
Katy Perry doesn't live in the Northern half of the 
Great Salt Lake or could live in an 
environment
comprised of water with at least 25% salinity. But she's pink, she at least played in Salt Lake City
before, and it's my list! I think there's a chance
she made the lake even more pink!
9. Lichenocorallium Floraspore (Pink Lichen-spore Coral)
Loosely 
related
to the Fungihalophilus Coralliumrosa, these Lichen-spores are coral-like
fungal creatures that grow and spread
far onto land
. They roll
around and get all dizzy
as they spread their tendril
networks
hundreds of yards away from their highly salty watery birthing 
grounds. I know they look 
adorable and 
taste like Skittles but be sure to never step on their 
heads. This isn't because it'll hurt 
them, they want you to 
step
on their 
head
and release thousands and thousands of spores into the air
which will likely give you chronic asthma
!
10. Crustacea Salinocaridella Florachela Polyspina (Fred the crab)
Fred the 
Crab is a 
novel
creature recently discovered in the salt 
pools
of the Great Salt Lake late last spring
. Their just itty-bitty-teensy-weensy-sand
crabs who 
critter-crawl from one environment to another. I just want one so bad
! It's too bad most get captured
and studied by the 
military
due to their neurotoxin which can paralyze a full-sized man
with a tiny pin 
prick
.
11. Conclusion
So what if a lot of them are pretty 
deadly? They are all just hot pink and adorable and make me want to study them even more! Who would have ever 
guessed we would have gotten creatures so 
cute, 
wittle, and 
adorable from something as 
industrial as a railroad
?!?
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