Krill
 
 

Introduced Species

For OTHER Crustaceans:

  • Barnacles
  • Copepods
  • Ostracods
  • Mysids
  • Isopods
  • Amphipods
  • Krill
  • Southern Rock Lobster 
  • Hermit Crab 
  • Crabs
  •  

  • Kingdom Animalia
  • Phylum Arthropoda
  • Subphylum Crustacea
  • Class Malacostraca
  • Order Euphausiacea (Krill)
  • These are an exclusively marine group of crustaceans that resemble mysids. Most krill eat small phytoplankton (plant plankton) which they capture using a dense comb of hair along their legs. They  congregate in huge swarms near the surface of the ocean, attracting large carnivorous animals such as whales, seals, pelagic fish and sea birds. This food source is particularly important in the southern ocean. The largest krill species, the Antarctic Euphausia superba is also caught commercially for human and livestock consumption. Catches of this species are up to 300 000 tonnes per year.

    Euphausia superba - Krill
    (Edgar, 1997)