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Reproductive trade-off in male Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba
Citation
Virtue, P and Nichols, P and Nicol, S and Hosie, G, Reproductive trade-off in male Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, Marine Biology: International Journal on Life in Oceans and Coastal Waters, 126, (3) pp. 521-527. ISSN 0025-3162 (1996) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 1996 Springer-Verlag
Abstract
Freshly caught male and female Euphausia
superba from the same swarm exhibited different rates
of mortality subsequent to capture. Mortality was significantly
higher for reproductive males (100%, n = 68)
than for females (3%, n = 186) within the first 3 d of
capture. Total lipid and triacylglycerol levels in male,
female and juvenile Euphausia superba were analysed
and compared. All reproductive male krill analysed
from this swarm had low lipid levels (1 to 3% dry
weight) with negligible triacylglycerol stores (0 to 2% of
total lipid). Somatic lipid stores in female and juvenile
krill ranged from 8 to 30%, of which up to 40% was
triacylglycerol. The levels of algal sterols in the digestive
gland of males, females and juveniles indicate that
all krill had been feeding recently. An analysis of the sex
ratio of krill catches derived from data collected over
seven summers from the Prydz Bay region showed
a decrease in the proportion of males with increasing
size. There was a sharp decline in numbers of male krill
once they attained a length of 51 to 55 ram. Low lipid
levels in redroductive male krill may be due to reproductive
costs. The resulting low storage-lipid levels are
accompanied by high mortality in male krill.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Keywords: | Krill reproduction |
Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Ecology |
Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
Objective Field: | Biodiversity in Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
UTAS Author: | Virtue, P (Associate Professor Patti Virtue) |
ID Code: | 90432 |
Year Published: | 1996 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 61 |
Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
Deposited On: | 2014-04-03 |
Last Modified: | 2014-06-12 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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