Malacostracans · Euphausiacea · Euphausiidae

Antarctic Krill

Euphausia superba

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

Antarctic krill is a malacostracan crustacean of the order Euphausiacea native to the cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans around Antarctica. It is a small crustacean that can live up to 6 years and forms enormous, very dense swarms. It feeds on phytoplankton, drawing on the energy the latter takes from sunlight, and so forms an essential link in the food chain of the Antarctic ecosystem, while itself being food for a number of animals, among them fish, penguins, petrels and whales.

Size

up to 6 cm

Lifespan

11 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanHerbivore Ocean Crustacean

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Fun facts

It is reckoned to be the species with the greatest biomass on the planet: between 100 and 500 million tonnes, an order of magnitude comparable to the total biomass of humanity.
Its swarms reach densities of 10,000 to 30,000 individuals per cubic metre.
It feeds directly on phytoplankton, so it turns solar energy into animal biomass in a single step, and from there it passes to whales, seals and penguins.
Its role goes beyond the food chain: through its daily vertical migrations and its fast-sinking faecal pellets, it transports nutrients and contributes to the Southern Ocean carbon sink.
It supports the largest fishery in the Southern Ocean, some 300,000 tonnes a year destined mainly for aquaculture feed and krill oil.
Its genome is enormous, about 42 gigabases, more than ten times the size of the human genome.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Invertebrate - articulated calcareous exoskeleton (crustacean)
Habitat & environment: Open waters of the Southern Ocean, from the surface to about 350 m and occasionally to 600; it forms extremely dense swarms tens of kilometres across
Sexual maturity: Matures at two years old

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphausia_superba