Most adult krill are referred to as micro-nekton which means that they are more independently mobile than the plankton which are drifting animals and plants at the mercy of the movements of the water. The term nekton embraces a wide diversity of animals from krill to whales.

What is a krill classified as?

Krill is the common name for any member of the crustacean order Euphausiacea. They are in the same class of animal as crabs, lobsters and crayfish, as well as shrimp and woodlice. 82 species of krill have been described.

Is krill a plankton?

Furthermore, krill are the dominant planktonic food source of marine mammals. Krill and plankton are two small creatures that live in large water bodies. Generally, both of them represent the bottom line of marine food chains.

What type of animal is krill?

Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian word krill, meaning "small fry of fish", which is also often attributed to species of fish.

What is difference between krill and plankton?

Krill are species of crustacean related to shrimp, and serve as a very important link in the food chain of the sea. Plankton consist of a larger group of organisms with much more variety, including bacteria, algae, protozoans, jellyfish and some species of cephalopods.

Nekton, Benthos, and Plankton

15 related questions found

Is krill a producer or consumer?

In the Antarctic food chain krill are primary consumers and baleen whales, penguins, seals and many kinds of fish and other birds are secondary consumers when feeding on krill.

Are zooplankton producers?

Phytoplankton are the tiny, plant-like producers of the plankton community. ... Zooplankton are the animal-like primary consumers of plankton communities. In turn, zooplankton then become food for larger, secondary consumers such as fish.

Why is krill a keystone species?

They are important in the food chain because they feed on phytoplankton, and to a lesser extent zooplankton, making nutrients available to other animals for which krill make up the largest part of their diet. For this reason krill are considered a keystone species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

Is krill a fish or crustacean?

Named after a fish, but NOT a fish

Interestingly, the word “krill” is Norwegian and means small fry of fish, but krill are not fish. Krill are small, shrimp-like crustacean with big black eyes and a reddish, semi-transparent body.

Is krill a shellfish?

A. Krill oil is extracted from the bodies of Antarctic krill — tiny shrimp-like shellfish — and can be taken in capsules. Like fatty fish and fish oil supplements, krill oil capsules contain the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Is jellyfish a zooplankton?

Jellyfish are a type of zooplankton that both drift in the ocean and have some swimming ability. Hundreds of jellyfish species live in every part of the ocean and belong to the same animal group as corals and sea anemones.

Is a krill a mammal?

Summary. Krill (euphausiids), the dominant planktonic food of marine mammals, are found throughout the world's oceans. ... Crabeater seals consume more krill than any other marine mammal population in the world. Anthropogenic effects on krill production include large-scale fisheries and climate change.

What marine zone does Krill belong to?

Krill, Bentheuphausia amblyops, is a bathypelagic species found in the southern part of the North Atlantic Ocean near 40°N in deep waters of at least 1,000 m. Euphausia superba are found in Antarctic waters between the continent and the polar front generally within depths of a 100 m or less.

What are Krills predators?

Blue whales and other large whales, leopard seals and other seals, several species of penguins, albatrosses and other seabirds, several fish species, and squids and other invertebrates all eat huge numbers of Antarctic krill.

Who harvests krill?

Norway is harvesting krill (Euphausia superba) in the Southern Ocean and copepods (Calanus finmarchicus) in the northeast Atlantic Ocean on an unprecedented scale for use in pharmaceuticals and aquaculture foodstuffs.

What role does krill play in the ecosystem?

Krill are extremely important because they are the main diet for most of the marine predators (penguins, seals, whales, fish) in the Southern Ocean. ... Because of this role they are called the 'keystone species' in the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

What ecosystem do krill live?

Antarctic krill can live up to 10 years, an amazing longevity for such a heavily hunted creature. They spend their days avoiding predators in the cold depths of the Antarctic Ocean, some 320 feet below the surface. During the night, they drift up the water column toward the surface in search of phytoplankton.

Who is responsible for the disappearance of the krill?

Krill populations have declined by 80% since the 1970s. Global warming has been blamed for part of that decrease because the ice that is home to the algae and plankton they feed on is retreating.

Will krill go extinct?

So when Antarctic sea ice declines, so do krill. One recent study suggests that if current warming and increasing CO2 trends continue, Antarctic krill could lose at least 20 percent — and in some, particularly vulnerable locations, as much as 55 percent — of their habitat by the end of the century.

What would happen if krill went extinct?

If the krill were to disappear, all of the creatures which feed upon them would also disappear. In general, most animals bigger than krill will eat it, from whales, seals, penguins, other seabirds and fish.

Are zooplankton decomposers or producers?

Some animals eat only dead or decaying materials and are called decomposers. In the marine food web, special producers are found. They are tiny microscopic plants called phytoplankton. Since the water is the home for these special tiny plants; it is also the home for tiny microscopic animals called zooplankton.

Is zooplankton a herbivore?

Animal plankton are called zooplankton. ... Zooplankton may be herbivores or plant-eaters (eat phytoplankton), carnivores or meat eaters (eat other zooplankton) or omnivores, which eat both plants and animals (eat phytoplankton and zooplankton).

Are zooplankton autotrophs?

They are single-celled organisms that conduct photosynthesis. They are thus autotrophs that make their own food from sunlight, nutrients, and carbon dioxide. ... Zooplankton include single-celled protists (that are sometimes referred to as microzooplankton).