No abstract

No abstract

The fat and fatty acid compositions of 28 species of fish and invertebrates (n = 954) from the Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence were determined. Discriminant analysis of the 16 most numerous species (n [Formula: see text] 18 each), using 17 major fatty acids, classified species with greater than 98% accuracy and grouped species into three general clusters (gadids, flatfish, and planktivores) with similar fatty acid compositions, and likely, similar diets. A number of species exhibited changes in fatty acid signatures with increasing size (multivariate analysis of variance), which corresponded with known dietary shifts reported from stomach contents analyses. Location effects were also observed among the three major geographical regions and were probably due to broad-scale variations in prey assemblages and phytoplankton composition in the northwestern Atlantic. Despite these effects, within-species variation was still substantially less than among-species variation. Thus, fatty acid signatures can be used to distinguish and characterize fish and invertebrate species in a given ecosystem, as well as to study finer-scale trophic interactions of these species. These data also have applications at higher trophic levels and will serve as a prey database for studying the diets of other fish and marine mammal predators using fatty acid signatures.

Twelve species of marine unicellular algae have been cultured under comparable conditions and the total fatty acids determined b1' gas liquid chromatography. Some specific fatty acid relationships paralleling taxonornic groupings were detected but generally individual fatty acids within various algal classes shorved large relative variations. The four Bacillariophyceae examined were notable for fatty acid cornpositions giving iodine values (150, rvhereas in eight other classes the iodine values were all approximately 200. It is suggested that 5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid, found to be a common algal longer-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, is characteristically deposited in the lipids of filter-feeders ingesting unicellular algae.

A gas chromatographic (GC) method using a capillary column for analysis of encapsulated fish oils and ethyl esters was studied collaboratively in 21 laboratories. Each collaborator analyzed 6 soft-gelatin encapsulated samples; 5 were trlacylglycerol oils (one was a blind duplicate), and one was an ethyl ester concentrate of omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturates. Constituent fatty acids of the oils were converted to methyl esters by base-catalyzed transesterlflcatlon of the oils; any free acids in the oils were esterlfied by subsequent reaction with BF3/CH3OH. The ethyl ester concentrate required no further derlvatlzation. Results were reported as area percentages of 24 analytes of nutritional or biochemical interest. In addition, weights (mg/g sample) of EPA (all-c/s-5,8,11,14,17-elcosapentaenolc acid or 20:5n-3) and DHA (all-c/s- 4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid or 22:6n-3) were determined through the use of the internal standards, respectively, methyl tricosanoate (23:0) and ethyl 23:0, for the methyl and ethyl esters. The only instrumentation specifically required was a flexible fused silica capillary GC column coated with a bonded polyglycol such as Carbowax-20M, an oxygen scrubber Installed In the carrier gas supply line, and a flame Ionization detector (FID). Most of the collaborators experienced little difficulty In applying the method, and, of 2526 values reported, only 4.3% were identified as outlier values. The reproducibility relative standard deviations (RSDR) compared favorably in most instances with, or were substantially better than, those of 2 earlier collaborative studies of fish oils. Because the variances were homogeneous, standard deviations and relative standard deviations determined on the area percent analyses of the blind duplicate oils were pooled to give the following mean values: sr = 0.15, RSDr = 4.88%, sR = 0.41, and RSDR = 12.91%. Analytes that rarely occur at greater than 0.5% In marine oils (22:0,22:4n-6,22:5n-6,24:0, and 24:1) were not Included in these calculations. The method was adopted first action by AOAC International as an American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS)-AOAC method.

Fatty acids (FA) are inextricably linked with key physiological and biochemical processes and are thus integral to proper ecosystem functioning. FA not biosynthesized effectively by animals are termed essential fatty acids (EFA). These EFA are important "drivers" of ecosystem health/stability and are therefore highly conserved in aquatic food chains. Aquatic organisms have been and continue to be our primary source of readily available EFA. However, overfishing and our burgeoning population may be acting in concert to threaten our access to this source of EFA. Here, we review the marine FA synthesis/transport cycle and traditional and nontraditional sources of EFA. Our review suggests that, while some traditional sources of marine oils (e.g., tuna) are in steady decline, other sources (e.g., krill) and technologies (e.g., heterotrophic fermentation) hold great promise for maintaining our access to EFA. We provide a minireview which illustrates that EFA contribute to our health and well-being. Finally, there is growing evidence that EFA have been an important force in our past evolution, leading us and others to speculate that an unbroken link exists between EFA, our present health, and, in all likelihood, our continuing evolution.

The relative responses for flame ionization detectors in the analysis of the longer chain fatty acid methyl esters are shown to correlate with the theoretical responses based on weight percent content of 舠active舡 carbon. While particularly affecting estimation of the shorter chain length saturated fatty acids, these erratums have a less marked effect on the estimation of unsaturated fatty acids.

Understanding the influence of dietary fatty acids on whole fish is necessary to evaluate the degree to which fatty acids may be used for understanding foraging patterns in fish, as well as in marine mammals that consume their prey whole. Adult Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were fed two prey items that differed significantly in fat content and fatty acid compositions. Cod were first fed squid (Illex illecebrosus, 2.0% fat) for 6 weeks, followed by Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus, 15.7% fat) for 8 weeks. Twenty whole cod were individually analyzed at each of 0, 3, 6, 11, and 14 weeks. Despite being on a low-fat squid diet, in only 3 weeks, cod fatty acid patterns changed significantly to reflect the patterns found in squid and did not further change at 6 weeks. When switched to a high-fat mackerel diet, total body fat of cod increased and the fatty acid composition of cod changed significantly in the direction of patterns found in mackerel. Despite changes in cod fatty acid signatures, cod were readily distinguished from the fatty acid signatures of their diets. Our results provide support for the use of fatty acids as indicators of diet at upper trophic levels.