The Permian Sea or Permian Basin is an underwater basin that is a remnant of an ancient ocean

Ocean

An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...

 that existed during Permian

Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...

 times (approximately 299 to 248 million years ago). It is entirely subterranean and spans an area about 480 km² (185 sq mi) across, running from eastern New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 to western Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The water within the basin is brackish, and has been extracted for use on shrimp farm

Shrimp farm

A shrimp farm is an aquaculture business for the cultivation of marine shrimp or prawns for human consumption. Commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply, particularly to match the market demands of the United States, Japan and Western Europe...

s. http://www.usmsfp.org/news/Newsletter/4-2004/page4-article1.htm

In the Permian Sea there were sea life like stem crinoids, sponges, mollusk symmetry and brachiopod penicularis. These animals were mainly sifter feeders. This has been taken directly from a research on the Kaibab Limestone

Kaibab Limestone

The Kaibab is a geologic formation that is spread across the U.S. states of northern Arizona, southern Utah, east central Nevada and southeast California. This geologic unit is part of the Park City Group in Nevada and Utah and is sometimes locally classified as a geologic group in Utah...

in the Grand Canyon.