Abundance and distribution of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) nearshore of Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica, during six austral summers between 2000 and 2007

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 1159-1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph D. Warren ◽  
David A. Demer
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Krill ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
Acoustic Backscatter ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Biomass Density ◽  
Single Beam ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
Abundance And Distribution ◽  
Antarctic Krill Euphausia Superba

Abundance and distribution of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the nearshore waters north of Livingston Island, Antarctica, were characterized from six small-boat surveys conducted in late January or early February from 2000 to 2007. The first three surveys (2000, 2002, 2004) were conducted using a 120 kHz split-beam echosounder to measure water column acoustic backscatter. The last three surveys (2005–2007) were conducted using 38 kHz and 200 kHz single-beam echosounders. A portion of the acoustic backscatter was attributed to Antarctic krill based on the results of net tows, underwater video observations, and a multiple-frequency acoustic classification algorithm. The annual mean krill biomass density in the survey area ranged from 11 to 84 g·m–2. Results are compared with the western Scotia Sea area of the US Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR) program’s acoustic surveys of krill biomass density for the same years. Nearshore krill biomass densities were significantly larger (t test, p < 0.05), more stable, and the coefficients of variation were smaller than the much larger AMLR surveys. Increased competition between seals, penguins, and humans for the nearshore krill resource, especially during the austral summer months, could impact the recruitment success of these land-based krill predators. Implications of nearshore krill biomass on small-scale management units are discussed.

scholarly journals Glider-Based Estimates of Meso-Zooplankton Biomass Density: A Fisheries Case Study on Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba) Around the Northern Antarctic Peninsula

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian S. Reiss ◽  
Anthony M. Cossio ◽  
Jennifer Walsh ◽  
George R. Cutter ◽  
George M. Watters
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Antarctic Krill ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
Acoustic Energy ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Biomass Density ◽  
Bransfield Strait ◽  
Cape Shirreff

We compare estimates of krill density derived from gliders to those from contemporaneous and previous ship-based surveys. Our comparisons cover several temporal and spatial scales within two strata around the northern Antarctic Peninsula (off Cape Shirreff on the north side of Livingston Island and in the Bransfield Strait). Our objective is to explore the feasibility of using gliders to supplement or replace vessel-based surveys of fishery resources. We deployed two long-duration Slocum G3 gliders manufactured by Teledyne Webb Research (TWR), each equipped with a suite of oceanographic sensors and a three-frequency (38, 67.5, and 125 kHz, each single-beam) Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler. We used the acoustic data collected by these gliders to estimate biomass densities (g⋅m–2) of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The two gliders were, respectively, deployed for 82 and 88 days from mid-December 2018 through mid-March 2019. Off Cape Shirreff, glider-based densities estimated from two repeat small-scale surveys during mid-December and January were 110.6 and 55.7 g⋅m–2, respectively. In Bransfield Strait, the glider-based estimate of biomass density was 106.7 g⋅m–2 during December–January. Contemporaneous ship-based estimates of biomass density, from a multi-ship broad-scale krill survey (Macaulay et al., 2019) restricted to the areas sampled by the gliders, were 84.6 g⋅m–2 off Cape Shirreff and 79.7 g⋅m–2 in Bransfield Strait during January. We compared two alternative krill-delineation algorithms (dB differencing and SHAPES); differences between biomass densities estimated by applying these algorithms were small and ranged between 4 and 7%. Alternative methods of sampling krill length-frequency distributions (LFDs) (nets or predator diets), which are required to convert acoustic energy to biomass density, also influenced the glider-based results. In Bransfield Strait, net-based estimates of biomass density were 6% less than those based on predator diets. Off Cape Shirreff the biomass density of krill estimated from a net-based LFD was 20% greater than that based on predator diets. Development of a variance estimator for glider-based biomass surveys is ongoing, but our results demonstrate that fisheries surveys using acoustically-equipped gliders are feasible, can provide density estimates to inform management, and may be conducted at lower cost than ship surveys in some cases.

Observation on behaviours of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in lighting condition

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 300
Author(s):  
Peng-xiang XU ◽  
Ying-chun LI ◽  
Guo-ping ZHU ◽  
Hui XIA ◽  
Liu-xiong XU
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Krill ◽  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
Lighting Condition ◽  
Antarctic Krill Euphausia Superba

Observations on moulting in Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba Dana)

1982 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Ikeda ◽  
P Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Phaeodactylum Tricornutum ◽  
Antarctic Krill ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
Dunaliella Tertiolecta ◽  
Antarctic Ocean ◽  
Fish Food ◽  
Antarctic Waters ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Krill Euphausia Superba

Live E. superba were transported from Antarctic waters to a tropical laboratory where observations at the temperature of -0.5�C (0 to - 1.0�C), were made of intermoult period of specimens fed a mixture of microalgae (Dunaliella tertiolecta and Phaeodactylum tricornutum) or artificial pet fish food or starved. Mean intermoult period was 26.4-27.1 days for fed specimens and 29.6 days for starved specimens, with no relation to the size of specimens. The moult accounted for a loss of 2.63-4.35% of animal dry weight, which is equivalent to 1.1-1.8% of animal nitrogen or 1.4-2.3% of animal carbon. The contribution of moults to detritus in the Antarctic Ocean was estimated as 0.11 g C m-2 per year.

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