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Together with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), arachidonic acid (ARA) is being considered to be an essential fatty acid in marine ¢sh larval diets. The objective of the present study was to determine the importance of dietary ARA levels for larval European sea bass performance, when EPA and DHA are also present in the diet. Eighteen-day-old larvae were fed, for 14 days, gelatine-based microdiets containing the following ARA levels: 0.3%, 0.6% or 1.2%. Elevation of dietary ARA up to 1.2% showed a positive correlation with larval survival and a signi¢cant improvement in the speci¢c growth rates, body weight and total length. Arachidonic acid was e⁄ciently incorporated into larval lipids, even at a higher proportion than that in the diets. Increased accumulation of ARA did not a¡ect the incorporation of DHA or EPA from the diet into larval total lipids. A signi¢cant positive correlation was found between dietary ARA levels and survival after handling stress, indicating the importance of this fatty acid in sea bass larvae response to acute stressors. The results show the importance of ARA for sea bass larvae, but higher dietary levels should be tested to determine whether there is a negative e¡ect of ARA in sea bass as reported for other species.