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Aspects of krill growth and condition during late winter-early spring off East Antarctica (110-130°E)
Citation
O'Brien, CJ and Virtue, P and Kawaguchi, S and Nichols, PD, Aspects of krill growth and condition during late winter-early spring off East Antarctica (110-130°E), Deep-Sea Research. Part 2: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 58, (9-10) pp. 1211-1221. ISSN 0967-0645 (2011) [Refereed Article]
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The definitive version is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.11.001
Abstract
Antarctickrill, Euphausiasuperba, isakeystonespeciesintheSouthernOcean.However,informationon
growth,dietandconditionduringwinterandearlyspringislimited,hamperingourunderstandingof
these fundamentalbiologicalparametersatthisimportantperiodintheirlifecycle.Ourstudyassessed
diet andconditionoflarvalandpostlarvalkrillcollectedfromopenwaterandbelowtheiceoffEast
Antarctica(110–130% o
E) inSeptember/October2007.Conditionwasassessedusinglipidcontent,growth
ratesanddigestiveglandsize;feedinghistorywasassessedusingfattyacidprofilesandstomachcontent
analysis;anda207-daystarvationstudyinvestigatedtheresponseofkrilltolong-termfooddeprivation.
Potentialfooditems(Calanuspropinquus and sea-icebiota)wereanalysedforlipidandfattyacid
compositiontocomparewithkrillsamples.Krillwerefoundtobeingoodcondition,withmeangrowth
rate of0.95%permoultforpostlarvaeand14.79%forlarvae,andmeanlipidcontentof24.1%forpostlarvae
and 6.6%forlarvae.Fattyacidprofilesandstomachcontentanalysisrevealedtwomainfeedingstrategies
- krillbelowtheicewerefeedingmostlyonsea-icediatoms,whilethoseinopenwaterwereingesting
copepodsanddetritus.Krillbelowtheicehadlargerdigestiveglandsthanthoseinopenwater.Furciliae
fatty acidprofilesindicatedadietofheterotrophicflagellatesand/ordetritus.Postlarvalkrillsurvived207
days offooddeprivationbyusingbodyproteinandlipidreservesforenergy.Incontrast,krillfurciliae
were severelydepletedafterjust5daysoffooddeprivation,indicatingthattheymustfeedcontinuallyat
this timeofyear.Krill,copepodsandsea-icebiotawerealllowinpolyunsaturatedfattyacids,indicating
that krillmustrelyonlaterspringphytoplanktonbloomstoobtaintheseessentialnutrientsrequiredfor
reproduction.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Euphausia superba, Lipids, Fatty acids, growth, overwintering, East Antarctica |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| Objective Field: | Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| Author: | O'Brien, CJ (Miss Colleen O'Brien) |
| Author: | Virtue, P (Associate Professor Patti Virtue) |
| Author: | Nichols, PD (Dr Peter Nichols) |
| ID Code: | 76369 |
| Year Published: | 2011 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 20 |
| Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
| Deposited On: | 2012-03-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2012-07-06 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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