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Is Vertical Migration in Antarctic Krill (Euphausia Superba) Influenced by an Underlying Circadian Rhythm?

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posted on 2012-07-04, 10:18 authored by Edward Gaten, Geraint Tarling, Harold Dowse, Charalambos Kyriacou, Ezio Rosato
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a keystone species in the southern ocean ecosystem where it is the main consumer of phytoplankton and constitutes the main food item of many higher predators. Both food and predators are most abundant at the surface, thus krill hide in the depth of the ocean during the day and migrate to the upper layers at night, to feed at a time when the predatory risk is lowest. Although the functional significance of this diel vertical migration (DVM) is clear and its modulation by environmental factors has been described, the involvement of an endogenous circadian clock in this behaviour is as yet not fully resolved. We have analysed the circadian behaviour of Euphausia superba in a laboratory setting and here we present the first description of locomotor activity rhythms for this species. Our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that the circadian clock plays a key role in DVM. They also suggest that the interplay between food availability, social cues and the light:dark cycle acts as the predominant Zeitgeber for DVM in this species.

History

Citation

Journal of Genetics, 2008, 87 (5), pp. 473-483

Author affiliation

/Organisation/COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND PSYCHOLOGY/School of Biological Sciences/Department of Biology

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

Journal of Genetics

Publisher

Indian Academy of Sciences with Springer Verlag

issn

0022-1333

eissn

0973-7731

Copyright date

2008

Available date

2012-07-04

Publisher version

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12041-008-0070-y

Language

en

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