Physiology, growth, and development of larval krill Euphausia superba in autumn and winter in the Lazarev Sea, Antarctica

By B. Meyer, V. Fuentes, C. Guerra, K. Schmidt, A. Atkinson, Susanne Spahic, B. Cisewski, Ulrich Freier, A. Olariaga, U. Bathmanna. 2009

90 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The physiological condition of larval Antarctic krill was investigated during austral autumn 2004 and winter 2006 in the Lazarev Sea. The condition of larvae was quantified in both seasons by determining their body length (BL), dry weight (DW), elemental and biochemical composition, stomach content analysis, and rates of metabolism and growth. Overall the larvae in autumn were in better condition under the ice than in open water, and for those under the ice, condition decreased from autumn to winter. Thus, growth rates of furcilia larvae in open water in autumn were similar to winter values under the ice (mean, 0.008 mm d−1), whereas autumn underice values were higher (0.015 mm d−1). Equivalent larval stages in winter had up to 30% shorter BL and 70% lower DW than in autumn. Mean respiration rates of winter larvae were 43% lower than of autumn larvae. However, their ammonium excretion rates doubled in winter from 0.03 to 0.06 µg NH4 DW−1 h−1, resulting in mean O:N ratios of 46 in autumn and 15 in winter. Thus, differing metabolic substrates were used between autumn and winter, which supports a degree of flexibility for overwintering of larval krill. The larvae were eating small copepods (Oithona spp.) and protozoans, as well as autotrophic food under the ice. The interplay between under‐ice topography, apparent current speed under sea ice, and the swimming ability of larval krill is probably critical to whether larval krill can maintain position and exploit suitable feeding areas under the ice.

Subfields: Aquatic Science, Ecology, Global and Planetary Change

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b0da7547bf59e95748c3a00a02295c2dd3026031

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Aquatic Science

1. B. Meyer
2. K. Schmidt
3. A. Atkinson
4. D. Pond
5. Louise Ireland
6. A. Lopata
7. V. Siegel
8. M. Teschke

In Ecology

1. A. Atkinson
2. D. Pond
3. K. Schmidt
4. V. Siegel
5. H. Loeng
6. E. Murphy
7. K. Drinkwater
8. A. Hollowed

In Global and Planetary Change

1. B. Meyer
2. A. Atkinson
3. K. Schmidt
4. D. Pond
5. V. Siegel
6. E. Murphy
7. Louise Ireland
8. A. Lopata

Citations in the corpus

• Feeding and overwintering of Antarctic krill across its major habitats: The role of sea ice cover, water depth, and phytoplankton abundance (2014, background): “4A) and copepod mandibles in their stomachs (including the ice copepod S. longipes; Meyer et al. 2009).”
• Krill, climate, and contrasting future scenarios for Arctic and Antarctic fisheries (2014, background): “Adults are more flexible than larval or juvenile krill and can exist in different aggregation states, use a wide variety of food sources, and can express various overwintering strategies (Quetin et al., 2003; Meyer et al., 2009; Flores et al., 2012).”
• Seasonal variation in body composition, metabolic activity, feeding, and growth of adult krill Euphausia superba in the Lazarev Sea (2010, background): “Recent investigations have demonstrated that metabolic activity in larval krill depends exclusively on food supply and not on light (Meyer et al. 2009).”