Intraspecific Variation of Fatty Acid Profile in Wild Populations of Chirocephalus Diaphanus Prévost (Anostraca)

Ten Chirocephalus diaphanus populations from mountain and plain pools have been studied to evaluate intraspecific variation in fatty acid composition. A high variability in total lipid contents was recorded within mountain and plain populations, the latter having on the average higher lipid totals than the former. Similarly, significant differences in fatty acid profiles were found irrespective of the predictable or stable characteristics of the pool of origin and of the range of variation in the environmental variables. This seems to suggest that food quality and/or availability, rather than abiotic characteristics themselves, affect the fatty acid pattern of the fairy shrimps.