Friday, September 18, 2026
Science

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents may be a hot spot for pregnant Antarctic krill

Antarctic krill are tiny shrimp-like creatures that were previously thought to mostly inhabit the upper layer of the Southern Ocean. Although they had occasionally been observed at deeper levels, they were never seen near deep-sea hydrothermal vents until 2024, when a group of oceanographers observe...

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents may be a hot spot for pregnant Antarctic krill
Image: Phys.org
Antarctic krill are tiny shrimp-like creatures that were previously thought to mostly inhabit the upper layer of the Southern Ocean. Although they had occasionally been observed at deeper levels, they were never seen near deep-sea hydrothermal vents until 2024, when a group of oceanographers observed them there for the first time. The team's new study, published in Communications Biology, describes the discovery and why the team thinks pregnant krill may actually be spending a lot of time near hydrothermal vents.

Originally published at Phys.org

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