Changes in lipids during the development of Calanus finmarchicus s.l. from Copepodid I to adult

The total lipid and wax ester content as well as the fatty acid and alcohol composition of all copepodid stages and adults of Calanus finmarchicus s.l. were investigated at different locations in the North Sea in 1983 and 1984. Total lipid and the wax ester proportion increased exponentially until Copepodid V. The females were sometimes lower in lipids than the Stage V. The wax ester proportion reached about 90% of total lipids in males and Copepodid V and up to 40% in Copepodid I. The major fatty acids were 16:0, 20:5, and 22:6 and the major fatty alcohols were 16:0, 20:1 and 22:1. At one station the 18:4 acid became one of the dominant acids, because of a Phaeocystis sp. bloom, indicating that the fatty acids of the diet are incorporated mostly unchanged into the lipids of the copepods. The other main fatty acids 20:1 and 22:1 are probably synthesized de novo, serving as precursors for the principal alcohols 20:1 and 22:1. Their levels decreased in the younger stages due to increases in 16:0 alcohol. The fatty alcohol-forming enzyme seems to be specific for saturated and monounsaturated acids, which may be synthesized de novo or derived from diet.