Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC05 Zooplankton Production, Physiology, and Ecology

Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Frazer, T, K, University of Florida, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 7922 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, FL, 32653, USA, frazer@ufl.edu

Quetin, L, B, University of California at Santa Barbara, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA, langdon@icess.ucsb.edu

Ross, R, M, University of California at Santa Barbara, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA, robin@icess.ucsb.edu

OXYGEN CONSUMPTION RATES OF LARVAL ANTARCTIC KRILL IN WINTER

Many investigators have suggested that food availability in the water column is so low in the winter that the energetic demands of larval Antarctic krill can only be met if alternative food sources, such as sea ice biota, are available. However, quantitative estimates of the energetic demands of larval krill in the winter have been lacking. Here, we provide quantitative measures of energetic demand (oxygen consumption) of late furcilia stage larval krill and early juveniles in early to mid-winter. Experiments were conducted both at sea and in the laboratory. Oxygen consumption experiments were conducted at sea during three winter cruises (WinCruise II (Jul 1987), WinCruise V (Jun 1993), and WinCruise VI (Jun 1994). Freshly collected larvae were incubated in closed vessels for 24 h at both winter (-1.7°C), and summer (2.0°C) temperatures. At Palmer Station during the winter of 1993, oxygen consumption experiments at both near freezing (-1.5°C) and summer temperatures (1.5°C) were conducted with fed and starved larvae to document variation in oxygen consumption under different environmental conditions. Findings are discussed in terms of food availability in winter.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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