Northern Krill

The northern krill, Meganyctiphanes norvegica, is a species of krill living in the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Norwegian Sea, North Sea and parts of the Mediterranean. Its thermal tolerance, ranging from about 2 to 15 degrees Celsius, is unusually broad compared with other krill species; the Antarctic krill, by contrast, tolerates temperatures between about negative 2 and positive 4 degrees Celsius. It is an important component of North Atlantic zooplankton, feeding on phytoplankton, copepods and other zooplankton while itself providing food for whales, seals, fish and birds, and it is the only species recognized in the genus Meganyctiphanes.