Lipid and fatty acid variations in muscle tissues of the 'yellow' stage of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) during short-term adaptation to freshwater and seawater under food deprivation

• Published in: Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology
• Main Authors: Ghazali, Nabila, Boussoufa, Dhouha, Navarro, Juan Carlos, El Cafsi, Mhamed
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2013
• Subjects: Muscle; Fatty acids; Salinity; Food deprivation; Anguilla anguilla; Española
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/95602; https://doi.org/10.1080/10236244.2013.774548

Changes in body mass and water content (WC), lipids, and fatty acid (FA) composition of muscle were determined in European eels (Anguilla anguilla) in the 'yellow' stage (sexually immature). The animals were held in either freshwater (FW) or seawater (SW) and deprived of food for four weeks. During this period, body mass decreased steadily. This decrease was accompanied by reduced muscle WC and total lipid in both SW and FW. 'Yellow' eels appeared to use lipids in muscle to provide metabolic and osmoregulatory energy. However, they maintained relative constancy in the FA profiles, so that total FA, saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated FA, were similar between salinities during short-term starvation. This study was supported by a financial aid (grant) from the Agencia Española de Cooperación International (AECI) Peer Reviewed