Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Ocean

by BETTINA WURCHE

Manatees, sea turtles and even the small krill crabs have stowaways on board on their journeys: their body surface secretes a thin biofilm of sugar and protein compounds in the water. A separate ecosystem of bacteria and tiny plants and animals thrives on this slimy biofilm – the epibionts. Using molecular biological methods, biologists are extracting more and more information from these communities about the origin, travel route and family relationships of their floating transporters.

For example, Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a key species of the South Polar Ocean:

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