Food composition analysis of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) from the Antarctic part of the Atlantics
https://doi.org/10.46845/1997-3071-2025-78-38-52
Abstract
This paper presents a comprehensive study of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba, Dana 1850) nutrition, which is an important object of domestic fishery in the areas of the Powell Basin and Bransfield Strait (Antarctic sector of the Atlantic Ocean). As a result of complex laboratory analysis, the material including 12 samples of E. superba was evaluated, the total number of individuals was 2128 (of which 49% were juveniles, 22% males and 29% females). Based on the analysis of 545 krill stomachs (all stomachs in which food was present in one way or another) in summer 2020, the main diet components were identified: peridinium (g. Peridinium spp., frequency of occurrence 78%) and diatom (g. Fragilaria, g. Fragilariopsis and g. Synedra) algae, paddlefish (g. Calanus sp.) and planktonic foraminifera (g. Foramenifera). Particular attention was paid to the phenomenon of seasonal cannibalism during the mass moult of krill (17% of the crustaceans were found to have numerous remains of the bodies of related individuals). The first assessment of the relationship between the degree of feeding activity of E. superba, larval cycle stage, sex composition and reproductive state of males and females did not reveal a pronounced relationship between these parameters, the overall low feeding activity of individuals of the species in the summer of 2020 was noted. The study confirmed the polyphagous nature of the diet of E. superba, which actively consumes available phytoplanktonic wo-weeds, supplementing the diet with highcalorie animal food (zooplankton and related individuals of E. superba). The data obtained expand the understanding of food preferences of Antarctic krill at different periods of its life cycle.
Keywords
Antarctic krill,
Euphausia superba,
food composition,
feeding strategy,
Powell Basin,
Bransfield Strait,
stomach,
polyphagous
Supporting agencies: The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the staff of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the material provided. Special thanks are expressed to Rudolf Nikolaevich Burukovsky, Professor of the KSTU, for support in the study of the food composition of the stomachs of Antarctic krill E. superba.
About the Authors
A. D. Kolesnikova
Kaliningrad State Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Aleksandra D. Kolesnikova, Undergraduate student of the Department of Aquatic Bioresources and Aquaculture,
Kaliningrad
S. A. Sudnik
Kaliningrad State Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Svetlana А. Sudnik, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Aquatic Bioresources and Aquaculture,
Kaliningrad
References
1. Ponomaryova L. A. Evfauziidy antarkticheskikh vod [Euphausiids of Antarctic waters]. Kaliningrad, AtlantNIRO Publ., 1969. 50 p.
2. Kasatkina S. M., Abramov A. M., Sokolov M. Y. Biomassa i raspredelenie antarkticheskogo krilya v Antarkticheskoy chasti Atlantiki v yanvare–fevrale 2020 goda [Biomass and distribution of Antarctic krill in the Antarctic part of the Atlantic in January-February 2020]. Trudy AtlantNIRO [Proceedings of AtlantNIRO]. 2021, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 49–61.
3. Kasatkina S. M., Bandurin K. V. Characteristics of the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) fishery (2010 to 2022) in the Atlantic Antarctic Area. Prospects for the development of the Russian krill fishery. Fisheries, 2023, vol. 1, pp. 7–15.
4. Bykova V. M. Antarkticheskiy kril' [Antarctic krill]. VNIRO Publ., 2001, 207 p.
5. Pavlov V. Ya. Morskie biologicheskie resursy Antarktiki [Marine biological resources of the Antarctic]. Trudy VNIRO [Proceedings of VNIRO]. Moscow, Pishchevaya promyshlennost', 1969, vol. 66, pp. 206–22
6. Sudnik S. A., Kolesnikova A. D. Kompleksnaya metodika laboratornogo analiza krilya Euphausia superba (Dana, 1850) (Euphausiacea: Euphausiidae) [Complex methodology of laboratory analysis of krill Euphausia superba (Dana, 1850) (Euphausiacea: Euphausiidae)]. Vseros. nauch.-praktich. konf. (6 fev. 2022): materialy [AllRussian Scientific and Practical Conference (February 6, 2022): materials]. Ul'yanovsk, UGPU im. I. N. Ul'yanova, 2022, pp. 225–233.
7. Makarov R. R., Serebryakova M. V., Spiridonov V. A., Shevtsov V. V. Metodicheskie ukazaniya po sboru i pervichnoy obrabotke v polevykh usloviyakh materialov po biologii i raspredeleniyu antarkticheskogo krilya [Guidelines for the collection and primary processing in the field of materials on the biology and distribution of Antarctic krill]. VNIRO Publ., 1982, 10 p.
8. Burukovskiy R. N. Krevetki: sostav pishchi i pishchevye vzaimootnosheniya [Shrimp: food composition and nutritional relationships]. Saint-Petersburg, Prospekt Nauki Publ., 2022, 568 p.
9. Bykhovskiy B. E. Polevoy opredelitel' planktona [Plankton field detector]. Moscow, Zoologich. inst. AN SSSR Publ., 1984, 178 p.
10. Dinoflagellyaty (Dinophyta) dal'nevostochnykh morey Rossii i sopredel'nykh akvatoriy Tikhogo okeana. Pod red. G. V. Konovalovoy [Dinoflagellates (Dinophyta) of the Far Eastern seas of Russia and adjacent waters of the Pacific Ocean. Ed. G. V. Konovalova]. Moscow, 1998. 297 p.
11. Gogorev R. M. Taksonomicheskiy sostav planktonnykh i ledovykh vodorosley v vodakh Antarktiki (po rezul'tatam issledovaniy v 2006–2007 gg.) [Taxonomic composition of planktonic and ice algae in Antarctic waters (based on research results in 2006-2007)]. Novosti sistematiki nizshikh rasteniy. 2009, p. 36.
12. WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. Available at: https://www.marinespecies.org (accessed 03 March 2025).
13. Bitiutskii D. G., Samyshev E. Z., Minkina N. I. [et. al.]. Distribution and demography of Antarctic krill and salps in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean during austral summer 2021–2022. Water. 2022. V. 12, N 14. P. 1–21.
14. Yakovenko V. A., Spiridonov V. A., Gorbatenko K. M. [et. al.]. Macro- and Mesozooplankton in the Powell Basin (Antarctica): Species Composition and Distribution of Abundance and Biomass in February 2020. Antarctic Peninsula Region of the Southern Ocean. 2021. P. 409–420.
15. Solomatina A. S., Demina L. L., Spiridonov V. A. Trace element concentration in Antarctic krill reflecting their distribution in the Weddell Sea. Russian Journal of Earth Sciences. 2021. V. 21. N 4. P. 12.
16. Sudnik S. A. O svyazi linochnogo i reproduktivnogo tsiklov u samok krevetok (Crustacea, Decapoda, Natantia) [On the relationship between lineage and reproductive cycles in female shrimp (Crustacea, Decapoda, Natantia)]. IX Vseros. nauch. konf. (26. sent. 2013 g.): materialy [IX All-Russian Scientific Conference (25-26.09.2013): materials]. Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad State Technical University. 2013, pp. 290–293.
Review
For citations:
Kolesnikova A.D., Sudnik S.A. Food composition analysis of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) from the Antarctic part of the Atlantics. KSTU News. 2025;(78):38-52. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46845/1997-3071-2025-78-38-52
Views:
5
Email this article 