A 30-day trial was performed to evaluate the reproductive performance of wild and 2nd generation domesticated Farfantepenaeus duorarum broodstock. Changes in biochemical composition and fatty acids (FA) profile in the 1st and 4th spawn order females were used as indicators of nutritional condition. Wild population of F. duorarum presented significantly better reproductive outcomes as compared to domesticated ones. Wild spawners achieved significantly higher number of eggs per spawn, number of egg per spawn per g of spawner's body weight and number of nauplii per spawn (P<0.05). Latency period was significantly shorter (P<0.05) for wild than for domesticated females (11 vs 17 days). Wild spawners also presented less mortality (6 vs 12%), higher number of total spawns (51 vs 33), spawns per ablated and per spawning females as well as higher total eggs and nauplii production. On the other hand, domesticated females presented higher number of females that spawned at least once (89 vs 76%). The higher spawning activity was reflected in lower levels of acylglycerides (AG) and cholesterol content in wild hepatopancreas (HP) and ovary (OV) (P<0.05). FA profile, mainly represented by ARA, EPA and sum of n-3 were higher in hepatopancreas and ovary of wild females, however lower levels were detected in eggs as a result of a high spawning activity. Multivariate analysis performed to detected simultaneous variation in biochemical variables indicated AG as variation pattern's responsive. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.