Temperature Induced Changes In Fatty Acid Dynamics Of Tropical And Temperate Harpacticoid Copepods

Student: 
Zara Guifarro

Fatty acids, specifically the essential fatty acids (EFAs) such as EPA, DHA and ARA are required for important physiological processes in all organisms. Primary producers and some primary consumers like harpacticoid copepods are the only organisms capable of synthesizing EFAs from their diet. These copepods are important primary consumers and a major dietary component for organisms such as fish. Environmental temperature is a stressor that drives many physiological responses in organisms, affecting their fatty acid dynamics. In order to understand how global warming might affect EFA availability in the tropical and temperate regions, the tropical copepod Canthocamptus sp. (Ecuador) and the temperate copepod Delavalia palustris (The Netherlands) were each exposed to three different temperature treatments. The successful thermal acclimation of temperate copepods indicates that marine organisms from these regions could adapt better to global warming. The significant decrease of DHA, EPA and ARA in tropical copepods under thermal stress showed global warming can negatively affect EFA concentrations in tropical regions by shifting towards higher saturated fatty acid concentrations in order to compensate for higher metabolic demands. This decrease in EFAs can negatively affect the transfer of energy through the food web and have an impact on organisms at higher trophic levels such as mollusks and fish.