Spawning frequency and fecundity of the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba

The spawning frequency of E. superba was estimated from observations of egg production by live individual females in captivity on board ship. The females were collected near the South Shetland Islands and Elephant Island, Antarctica. On the average, 15.6% of the females spawned each day, which indicates an interval between spawnings of 6.7 d. This evidence contradicts earlier descriptions of the spawning behavior of E. superba . The females appear to be continually producting eggs and releasing them periodically over the entire spawning season, and thus have much higher fecundities than previously estimated.