File:Krilldistribution.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
Antarctic krill, scientifically named *Euphausia superba*, is a species of marine crustacean. It belongs to the family Euphausiidae within the order Euphausiacea, class Malacostraca, and phylum Arthropoda. The taxon was described by Dana in 1850 and is currently accepted as a valid species.
This organism is found in the marine habitat of Antarctica. It serves as a source for krill oil. The IUCN Red List assessed the species as Least Concern in 2015.
Synthesized by Vinony from 22 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, WoRMS, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
Least ConcernAntarctic krill
Species
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassMalacostraca
- OrderEuphausiacea
- FamilyEuphausiidae
via IUCN
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Q992619
- Continent
- Antarctica
- Image
- Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba).jpg
Show 7 more facts
- taxon name
- Euphausia superba
- taxon rank
- species
- Commons category
- Euphausia superba
- IUCN conservation status
- Least Concern
- taxon common name
- krill antárticu
- taxon author citation
- Dana, 1850
- this taxon is source of
- krill oil
via Wikidata · CC0
~19 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. It is a small, swimming crustacean that lives in large schools, called swarms, sometimes reaching densities of 10,000–30,000 animals per cubic metre. It feeds directly on minute phytoplankton, thereby using the primary production energy that phytoplankton originally derive from the sun in order to sustain its pelagic life cycle. It grows to a length of 6 centimetres (2.4 in), weighs up to 2 grams (0.071 oz), and can live for up to six years. A key species in the Antarctic ecosystem and in terms of biomass, E. superba is one of the most abundant animal species on the planet, with a cumulative biomass of approximately 500 million metric tons (550 million short tons; 490 million long tons). But, E. Superba is suffering from overfishing.
Life cycle
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Antarctic krill” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.