FATTY ACID METABOLISM IN JUVENILE LOBSTERS ( Homarus americanus ) FED A DIET LOW IN METHIONINE AND HISTIDINE

• Published in: Proceedings of the World Mariculture Society
• Main Authors: Castell, John D., Boghen, Andrews D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1979
• Subjects: Agronomy and Crop Science; Aquatic Science; Pandalus borealis
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-7345.1979.tb00070.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1749-7345.1979.tb00070.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1749-7345.1979.tb00070.x

ABSTRACT Juvenile lobsters were fed diets supplemented with 9% hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO) alone or 8% HCO with 1% 18:3ω3, 1% mixed 18:3ω3/18:2ω6 (2/1) or 1% 22:6ω3. After the experiment was started, it was discovered that the protein (purified from shrimp tail meat, Pandalus borealis ) was low in both methionine (0.9%) and histidine (0.2%). Essential amino acid deficiency probably accounted for the high mortality (50% by week 5 or 6) in all groups. In spite of the high mortality, a number of interesting effects of dietary lipids on fatty acid metabolism and storage in lobsters were observed. When lobsters were fed 18:3ω3 or 22:6ω3 with HCO in the absence of dietary fatty acids of the ω6 series, they produced unusually high levels of 20:3ω3 and 16:1ω3. This could be an attempt to retain the ω3 structure with minimal unsaturation. High levels of more unsaturated fatty acids would result in greatly reduced viscosity of lipids in lobsters held at 20°C. The levels of 20:4ω6, 20:5ω3 and 22:6ω3, the typical essential fatty acids (EFA), remained relatively constant in the lobster lipids for all dietary treatments. Dietary 18:2ω6 resulted in a significant decrease in the production of both 16:1ω3 and 20:3ω3 from dietary 18:3ω3.