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The Propulsion Jet of Euphausia Superba (Antarctic Krill) as a Potential Communication Signal among Conspecifics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

K. Wiese  and
Y. Ebina
K. Wiese
Affiliation:
Zoologisches Institut und Zoologisches Museum der Universitat, Martin Luther King Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany.
Y. Ebina
Affiliation:
Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yamaguchi University, Ube, 755, Japan
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Extract

INTRODUCTION

Individuals of the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana assemble in spring into dense formations (estimated 20,000 m3) which swim for long distances and at considerable speed (estimated 20 cm s−1) to search for patches of phytoplankton (Hamner, 1984). Recruitment to schools and maintenance of a defined position in a travelling formation, a remarkable social behaviour, requires some kind of communication system between individuals.

Vision, as a sophisticated image-processing system, habituating strongly with time, appears inappropriate for the task of continuously monitoring position in the formation. This is not in contradiction of the fact that the prominent eyes of Euphausia orient the shrimp with respect to the axis of light coming from above, and direct the photophores 180° away from light (Land, 1980). The function of the photophores is only partially explained (e.g. predator avoidance by counter-shading, Grinnell et al., 1988), their role in formation swimming being doubtful because they are reportedly active only during dawn and dusk. Of course the eyes help Euphausia to assemble in schools and to evade predators (Strand & Hamner, 1990) as well as fishing nets (Everson & Bone, 1986a,b), but a simple mechanical reflex seems more suitable to control individual position in the formation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 75 , Issue 1 , February 1995 , pp. 43 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1995

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