Antarctic krill

Euphausia superba · The Antarctic krill is a small, swimming crustacean that lives in huge swarms in the cold Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.

Antarctic krill
Photo: Dr. Wayne Trivelpiece, Public domain
Antarctic krill
Photo: Uwe Kils I am willing to give the image in 1700 resolution to Wikipedia Uwe Kils, CC BY-SA 3.0
Antarctic krill
Photo: Oleksandr Bogomaz, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassMalacostraca
OrderEuphausiacea
FamilyEuphausiidae
GenusEuphausia
SpeciesEuphausia superba

Where it lives

Cold open waters of the Southern Ocean, near the edge of the sea ice.

Fun facts

  • Krill are called light-shrimp because they glow: their bioluminescent organs flash yellow-green light, and each has a lens and reflector like a flashlight.
  • When threatened, krill zoom backwards by flipping their tails, reaching speeds of over 0.6 metres per second.
  • If they go hungry, krill can actually shrink in size after moulting, which is unusual for animals of their size.
  • Crabeater seals have special multilobed teeth that work like a strainer to sieve krill from the water.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).