Northern krill

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Northern krill

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Euphausiacea
Family: Euphausiidae
Genus: Meganyctiphanes
Holt and W. M. Tattersall, 1905
Species: M. norvegica
Binomial name
Meganyctiphanes norvegica
(M. Sars, 1856)

Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica) is a crustacean that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the zooplankton. It is an euphausiid and a very important component of the plankton of the ocean, food for whales, fish and birds. In the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba fills a similar role.

Northern krill is the only species of the genus Meganyctiphanes.

The stomach is colored intensly red from carotenoids, an indication that this euphausid feeds on copepods.
The stomach is colored intensly red from carotenoids, an indication that this euphausid feeds on copepods.


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