Big things come in small packages. Biomass contribution of the krill Thysanoessa macrura to the marine ecosystem in the Kerguelen Plateau region

Southern Ocean krill (Thysanoessa macrura) are a small and abundant species of krill in the Southern Ocean. It is considered the second most abundant krill species, with Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) the biomass dominant species in Antarctic waters (Makarov, 1979; Hosie, 1991; Nordhausen, 1992). Euphausia superba is generally found south of the Polar Front, while T. macrura has a range that extends from the Antarctic coast to north of the sub-Antarctic front (Kirkwood, 1982; Cuzin-Roudy, et al. 2014). Consequently, T. macrura is likely the second most abundant euphausiid in the Antarctic, however estimates of its abundance in the Southern Ocean are largely lacking. Thysanoessa macrura play a vital role in the diet of many flying seabirds, fish and penguins. In the sub-Antarctic, the dietary contribution of T. macrura outweighs the contribution of other krill species and forms up to 80% of the diet of some sub-Antarctic bird species (Raymond et al., 2011).