Hyphenated techniques of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer were used to determine fatty acids in eleven species of seaweeds from Fernando de Noronha archipelago. The main compounds detected in all studied species were the alcohol phytol and the fatty acids 14？:？0; 15？:？0; 16？:？0; 18？:？0; 18？:？1 n9; 18？:？2 Δ9,12; 20？:？4; 20？:？5. These fatty acids are commonly found in seaweeds present in warm regions. Thus, we found no specificity in the presence of a particular set of fatty acids and the studied species indicating that they are not useful as taxonomic indicators. However, they could be used in a comparative study with algae found in polluted area because many of the studied seaweeds are widespread and Fernando de Noronha has low human influence. 1. Introduction Seaweeds are key ecological factors in shallow marine areas forming the base of the trophic web and structuring ecosystems especially on consolidated substrata. They are known by the production of many bioactive compounds. Hence, the pharmaceutical and the cosmetics industries have a special interest in algae as sources of specific molecules [1–4]. Also, several works have investigated their value in human and animal nutrition [5–8]. Among the algae-derived compounds, polyunsaturated fatty acids are especially important as they act as antioxidant agents involved in many physiological processes [9, 10]. The studies to determine the fatty acids profiles started some years before and many of them focused on the use of these compounds as biomarkers for chemotaxonomy, though their concentration may be susceptible to environmental interference [11–14]. Some of the main important factors that influence the algae fatty acid concentration are the temperature, [15, 16], types of habitat [15, 17], and presence of metals and pollutants [12, 13, 18]. Although less common, other approaches using fatty acids have explored the effects of industrial effluents and environmental variables on the amount and quality of fatty acids produced [19, 20] and their role in food assimilation by herbivorous invertebrates [21]. Fernando de Noronha archipelago is an isolated group of islands formed by relatively recent volcanic processes. The islands are located approximately 350？km off the northeastern Brazilian coast and are part of Pernambuco State [22]. The archipelago was established as a marine protected area since 1988, and its marine flora is composed of 128？taxa, including 44 species of Chlorophyta, 62 of Rhodophyta, and 22 of Phaeophyta [23]. The most abundant benthic algae groups found in the
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