Big things come in small packages. Biomass contribution of the krill Thysanoessa macrura to the marine ecosystem in the Kerguelen Plateau region

• Main Authors: Wallis, JR, Kawaguchi, S, Matsuno, K, Swadling, KM
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: Australian Antarctic Division 2019
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Ecology; Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology); Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Kerguelen; Kirkwood; Nordhausen; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill; Euphausia superba; Thysanoessa macrura
• Online Access: http://heardisland.antarctica.gov.au/research/kerguelen-plateau-symposium/the-kerguelen-plateau-marine-ecosystems-and-fisheries; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/134316

Southern Ocean krill ( Thysanoessa macrura ) area small and abundant species of krill in the SouthernOcean. It is considered the second most abundantkrill species, with Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba )the biomass dominant species in Antarctic waters(Makarov, 1979; Hosie, 1991; Nordhausen, 1992).Euphausia superba is generally found south of the PolarFront, while T. macrura has a range that extends fromthe Antarctic coast to north of the sub-Antarctic front(Kirkwood, 1982; Cuzin-Roudy, et al. 2014). Consequently, T. macrura is likely the second most abundanteuphausiid in the Antarctic, however estimates of itsabundance in the Southern Ocean are largely lacking. Thysanoessa macrura play a vital role in the diet of manyflying seabirds, fish and penguins. In the sub-Antarctic,the dietary contribution of T. macrura outweighs thecontribution of other krill species and forms up to 80%of the diet of some sub-Antarctic bird species (Raymondet al., 2011).