Abstract
Sinking rates of the embryos of Euphausia superba were measured during development in the laboratory at Palmer Station. Antarctic Peninsula, during austral summer 1982. Two densities of seawater were used in these experiments; the lower density (1.027 g cm-3) is characteristic of the upper 300 m of the water column, the higher (1.029 g cm-3) is characteristic of the deeper “circumpolar deep water”. During development, the eggs sank at an initial average rate of 175 m d-1, declining to 51 m d-1 during the gastrula to early limb bud stages and increasing before hatching to near initial rates. The larvae hatched within 6 d. We predict that the majority of the embryos of E. superba should hatch at a depth of about 850 m.
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Communicated by N. D. Holland, La Jolla
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Quetin, L.B., Ross, R.M. Depth distribution of developing Euphausia superba embryos, predicted from sinking rates. Mar. Biol. 79, 47–53 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00404984
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00404984