Two Species of Teleosts Having Wax Esters or Diacyl Glyceryl Ethers in the Muscle as a Major Lipid

Abstract

Two species of teleosts, Hoplostethus gilchristi and Rexea solandri, caught off New Zealand have been found to possess wax esters or diacyl glyceryl ethers in the muscle as a major lipid. The muscle of H. gilchristi contained 7.9% lipids, in which wax esters made up 97%. The component fatty alcohols were mostly saturated or monoenoic and contained 14-24 carbon atoms. The major constituents were cetyl alcohol, eicosenol, and docosenol: each occupied 21-24% of the alcohol total. Oleic acid was dominant among the fatty acids of the wax esters. The muscle of R. solandri contained 18.6% lipids, of which 30% were diacyl glyceryl ethers and 68% were triglycerides. The major glyceryl ether components were selachyl and chimyl alcohols, which constituted 60% and 23% of the glyceryl ethers respectively without polyenoic alcohols. The fatty acid compositions of diacyl glyceryl ethers were similar to those of triglycerides; palmitic and oleic acids were the chief components.