Synchronous moulting of krill, Euphausia superba, in the Bransfield Strait (Antarctica)

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Rotllant, Guiomar, Company, Joan B., Busquets, Xavier, Buchholz, F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer 2004
• Subjects: Antarctic; Bransfield Strait; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill; Antarctica; Euphausia superba; Polar Biology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/135022; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0605-5

3 pages, 2 figures, 1 table A large mass of cast exoskeletons of the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba was fished in February 2001 at one station in the Bransfield Strait between 411 and 153 m. We assume that the mass of cast exoskeletons originated from a synchronous moult of thousands of individuals. Depending on the size of the krill moulted, the amount of exoskeletons corresponded to a krill abundance of 1,480-48,000 individuals per 1,000 m3. © Springer-Verlag 2004 Support for this work was provided by CICYT (Spanish Antarctic Research Program) Peer Reviewed