The energetic cost of egg production in Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba Dana)

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Nicol, Stephen, De La Mare, William K., Stolp, Martin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1995
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic Krill; Antarctic Science; Euphausia superba
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000058; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102095000058

A female Antarctic krill loses 34% of its body mass when it lays a batch of eggs. This represents a considerable input of energy which was estimated using a combination of measured mass and energy differences in female krill and from the measured energetic content of ovarian tissue. Large ( c. 50 mm) female krill lose 2.9–3.8 kJ each time a batch of eggs is laid. Calculations using this figure indicate that multiple spawning by Antarctic krill in a season would require above average phytoplankton concentrations (> 0.5 μg chl a 1 −1 ) and filtration rates which are close to the maximum reported (> 10 l h −1 ).