Abstract:
The dataset contains body length and maturity stage measurements of Antarctic krill caught from multiple RMT8 hauls conducted as part of science cruise JR15004 to the South Orkneys in January and February 2016. The measurement followed standard protocols as detailed in Morris et al 1988 and Makarov and Denys 1980. All measurements were made on a random subset of approximately 100-200 individuals per haul. The datasets include measurements made from a total of 11 hauls. The measurements were all made by a single analyst.
The work was carried out as part of NERC Antarctic Logistics and Infrastructure Science funding for Southern Ocean Ecosystems.
Keywords:
Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, body length, maturity
Saunders, R., Fielding, S., & Tarling, G.A. (2025). Body length and maturity stage measurements of Antarctic krill caught during the South Orkneys science cruise JR15004 (2016) (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/2733f2ad-e111-4b21-b695-c9452e4548a1
| Access Constraints: | None |
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| Use Constraints: | Data are supplied under Open Government Licence v3.0 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/. |
| Creation Date: | 2025-06-10 |
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| Dataset Progress: | Complete |
| Dataset Language: | English |
| ISO Topic Categories: |
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| Parameters: |
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| Personnel: | |
| Name | PDC BAS |
| Role(s) | Metadata Author |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Ryan Saunders |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Sophie Fielding |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Geraint A Tarling |
| Role(s) | Investigator, Technical Contact |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Parent Dataset: | N/A |
| Reference: | JR15004 Cruise Report, South Orkney Ecosystem Studies (15 January - 23 February 2016): https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/reports/jr15004.pdf Morris, D. J., Watkins, J. L., Ricketts, C. F., Buchholz, F., & Priddle, J. (1988). An assessment of the merits of length and weight measurements of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba.ÿBritish Antarctic Survey Bulletin, (79), 27-50. Makarov R. R. and Denys C. J. 1980. Stages of sexual maturity of Euphausia superba Dana. BIOMASS Handbook 11: 1-11. |
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| Quality: | All body length measurements were rounded down to the nearest mm. All were performed by a single analyst (Ryan Saunders) to minimise inter-analyst error and bias. Net hauls cover a variable distance of between 0.1 and 1 nautical mile. |
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| Lineage: | Krill sampling was carried out during the scientific cruise JR15004 which studied the South Orkney Ecosystem between 15 January - 23 February 2016 on board the RRS James Clark Ross. Krill were sampled when located using a rectangular midwater trawl net (RMT8; 3 mm mesh). Krill samples were taken from RMT8 samples where there were sufficient numbers of krill to select 100 decent state specimens for length frequency and maturity. Measurements of krill body length were obtained from randomly selected sub-samples (100-200 individuals per net), measured as the distance between the front of the eye and the tip of the telson, with measurements rounded down to the nearest millimetre (Morris et al. 1988). Information on sex and maturity status were collected based on the scale of Makarov and Denys (1981) with the nomenclature described by Morris et al. (1988). All measurements and staging was carried out by a single analyst (Ryan Saunders). A total of 11 successful RMT8 hauls were undertaken to ground truth the acoustic observations and inform on population structure, primarily around the northwest shelf-break of the South Orkney Islands. |
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| Temporal Coverage: | |
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| Start Date | 2016-02-02 |
| End Date | 2016-02-15 |
| Spatial Coverage: | |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -60.5458 |
| Northernmost | -60.2867 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -46.8522 |
| Easternmost | -46.4246 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Location: | |
| Location | Southern Ocean |
| Detailed Location | South Orkney Islands |
| Data Collection: | Krill were captured with a rectangular midwater trawl net (RMT8; 3 mm mesh). |
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| Data Storage: | The dataset consists of 2 files: JR15004_LF_data.csv JR15004_LF_event details.csv |
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