Regional diet in Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) as determined by lipid, fatty acid, and sterol composition

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Hellessey, N, Ericson, JA, Nichols, PD, Kawaguchi, S, Nicol, S, Hoem, N, Virtue, P
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer-Verlag 2022
• Subjects: dietary analysis; ocean basins; carnivory; triacylglycerol; phospholipid; Southern ocean; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Pacific; Indian; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill; Euphausia superba; Polar Biology
• Online Access: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/46738/

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a circumpolar species with an omnivorous diet. Knowledge of krill diet within different regions will help predict how environmental change may impact local krill populations. Krill from the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean were compared. The total lipid, lipid class, neutral lipid fraction fatty acid and sterol content and composition of whole krill, their digestive glands, and stomachs during the late-summer were examined. Indian sector krill had a distinctly different dietary lipid pattern to Atlantic and Pacific sector krill based on their fatty acid profiles (p