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Animal profile · Crustaceans · Pelagic krill
Antarctic krill
Euphausia superba
Antarctic krill are small, shrimp-like crustaceans that swarm through the Southern Ocean. They are a central food source for whales, seals, penguins, seabirds, and fish.
Not a fish · an aquatic neighborWater
Saltwater
Open Southern Ocean waters, especially around sea ice and the Antarctic shelf.
Temperature
Range not established
A dependable species-specific wild temperature range was not established from the reviewed sources, so both values are null.
Size
Up to about 6 cm (2.4 in) long
About the length of a thumb
Lifespan
Best-supported wild lifespan is not established.
Life expectancy varies with place, conditions, and what scientists have been able to observe.
01 · Signature adaptation
What does it do?
Krill form dense schools and migrate vertically between surface waters and deeper water. They can remain closely associated with sea ice during winter.
02 · Home coordinates
Where does it live?
Circumpolar Southern Ocean around Antarctica.
Regions: Southern Ocean · Antarctica
03 · The menu
What does it eat?
It filters tiny organisms from the water and scrapes algae from beneath sea ice.
Filter-feeder and grazer: phytoplankton, ice algae, small zooplankton.
04 · Remember this
Two wow facts
Food-web foundation
Antarctic krill connect microscopic algae to some of the largest animals on Earth.
Sources [1]
Carbon movers
Their feeding and sinking fecal pellets help move carbon from surface waters toward the deep ocean.
Sources [1]