The Propulsion Jet of Euphausia Superba (Antarctic Krill) as a Potential Communication Signal among Conspecifics

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Authors: Wiese, K., Ebina, Y.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1995
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill; Euphausia superba
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315400015186; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315400015186

INTRODUCTION Individuals of the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana assemble in spring into dense formations (estimated 20,000 m 3 ) which swim for long distances and at considerable speed (estimated 20 cm s− 1 ) to search for patches of phytoplankton (Hamner, 1984). Recruitment to schools and maintenance of a defined position in a travelling formation, a remarkable social behaviour, requires some kind of communication system between individuals. Vision, as a sophisticated image-processing system, habituating strongly with time, appears inappropriate for the task of continuously monitoring position in the formation. This is not in contradiction of the fact that the prominent eyes of Euphausia orient the shrimp with respect to the axis of light coming from above, and direct the photophores 180° away from light (Land, 1980). The function of the photophores is only partially explained (e.g. predator avoidance by counter-shading, Grinnell et al., 1988), their role in formation swimming being doubtful because they are reportedly active only during dawn and dusk. Of course the eyes help Euphausia to assemble in schools and to evade predators (Strand & Hamner, 1990) as well as fishing nets (Everson & Bone, 1986a,b), but a simple mechanical reflex seems more suitable to control individual position in the formation.