Turbot larvae were fed live-prey enriched with different levels of arachidonicARA.and eicosapentaenoicEPA.acids to study the effects of these fatty acids on body composition and pigmentation success. Significantly reduced pigmentation was obtained in those fish fed medium and high ARA diets for 43 days. Growth and survival were the same for all groups. The incorporation of ARA and EPA in fish eyes, brains, livers and carcasses reflected the percentage of these fatty acids in the diets. ARA accumulation was similar in all tissues, but brain accumulated EPA was less efficient than the other tissues examined. A highly significant, negative correlation was found between the %ARA in turbot juvenile brain total lipids and pigmentation success. A weaker, positive correlation was found between brain EPA and pigmentation. Increasing dietary ARA affected the fatty acid composition of turbot brain phosphoglycerides more than increasing dietary EPA, especially in phosphatidylinositol PI. and phosphatidylethanolamine PE.. A negative relationship was found between percentage normal pigmentation and ARA levels in brain phosphatidylcholinePC., PE and phosphatidylserinePS.. Elevated levels of ARA in PI also resulted in malpigmented juveniles, but EPA:ARA ratios G1 in PI were associated with normal pigmentation. We conclude that, given a sufficiency of dietary docosahexaenoic acid DHA., the optimum dietary level of EPA is not a function of DHA, but of dietary ARA.
Autor:
Est?vez, A., McEvoy, L.A., Bell, J.G., Sargent, J.R.
Referencia:
Aquaculture
Volumen:
180
Pagina Inicial:
321
Pagina final:
343
Editorial:
Elsevier