CHITIN BIOMASS AND PRODUCTION IN THE MARINE-ENVIRONMENT

The total production of chitin has been tentatively calculated on the basis of original analytical data on chitin in zooplankton and in benthic communities growing on experimental substrates studied in the Mediterranean Sea, together with data in the literature dealing with total and exuviae production by krill and by some large crustacean species. It appears that crustaceans are the main chitin producers both in planktonic and benthic ecosystems, and that mean total production of chitin in the whole marine biocycle is at least of 2.3 million metric tons per year.