Fatty acid composition and lipid content in the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus during summer in the southern Bothnian Sea

The lipid reserves and occurrence of the cold-stenothermic, omnivorous copepod Limnocalanus macrurus were studied in the Bothnian Sea (northern Baltic Sea) during spring and summer 2013-2014 with a special emphasis on the fatty acid composition of adults and their potential food. The individual total wax ester (WE) content, determined from the size of oil sacs in the prosoma, ranged on average from 1.3 to 2.6 mu g, and showed a decreasing trend towards September. Lipids were dominated by fatty acids 16: 0, 18: 1(n-9), 18: 2(n-6), 20: 5(n-3) and 22: 6(n-6), forming 56-61% of total fatty acids in June-September. Decreasing abundance of adults and reduction of the lipid storage implied that during summer adults suffered from starvation and, as a result, became eliminated from the population. The lipid content and dietary fatty acid markers suggested that in May, adult L. macrurus utilized the phytoplankton bloom, consisting mainly of diatoms and dinoflagellates, but later, during July-September, consumed either algae or heterotrophic organisms sinking from upper water layers or crustaceans inhabiting the same deeper water layers as L. macrurus. In the face of the climate change, the rising temperatures may force L. macrurus permanently to deeper water levels. If also the food resources are limited, we conclude that the summer season may act as a bottleneck limiting the propagation of L. macrurus and having implications further along the food web.