Lipids of the notothenioid fishes Trematomus spp. and Pagothenia borchgrevinki from East Antarctica

Abstract

The notothenioid fishes Trematomus pennellii, T. newnesi, and T. bernacchii had 5–15% skeletal lipid, as percent dry weight, and this comprised 6–8% of the total body lipid. Trematomus hansoni and Pagothenia borchgrevinki had 2–4% skeletal lipid, which comprised 1% of total body lipid. Triacylglycerol was the major lipid class present in all tissues of all fish analyzed (up to 89% of total lipid), with minor components including sterol, phospholipid and wax esters. Monounsaturated fatty acids comprised 38.3–58.0% of the total fatty acids, and included primarily oleic [18 : 1(n-9)] and palmitoleic [16 : 1(n-7)] acids. Polyunsaturated fatty acids comprised 19.1–40.0% of the total fatty acids and included primarily eicosapentaenoic acid [20 : 5(n-3)] and docosahexaenoic acid [22 : 6(n-3)]. These five notothenioid fishes, which include benthic, benthopelagic, and cryopelagic species, are lower in lipid than other important Southern Ocean fishes (such as the Patagonian toothfish) and are estimated to be negatively buoyant. These data will be of use to research groups presently using signature lipid methodology.