What is Antarctic krill?
Q: What is Antarctic krill?
A: Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a species of small, shrimp-like invertebrates that live in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.
Q: What kind of groups do they live in?
A: They live in large groups, called swarms.
Q: What is the density of some of these swarms?
A: Sometimes these swarms have a density of 10,000–30,000 individual animals per cubic meter.
Q: What do they feed on?
A: They feed directly on very small phytoplankton.
Q: What is the importance of phytoplankton in the diet of the krill?
A: They can use the energy that the phytoplankton originally got from the sun in order to sustain their life in the open ocean.
Q: What is the size and weight range of this species?
A: They grow to a length of 6 cm, weigh up to 2 g, and can live for up to six years.
Q: What is the importance of Antarctic krill in terms of biomass?
A: They are a key species in the Antarctic ecosystem and are, in terms of biomass, probably the most successful animal species on the planet (approximately 500 million tonnes).
