In aquaculture, there is high interest in substituting marine-derived with vegetablebased ingredients as energy source. Farmed carnivorous fish under high carbohydrate diets tend to increase adiposity but it remains unclear if this happens by increased lipid retention/accumulation, promotion of lipogenic pathways, or both. In order to determine the response of extrahepatic tissue to dietary starch, European (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Asian (Lates calcarifer) seabass were fed a control (low starch; LS) or experimental (high starch; HS) diet, for at least 21 days and then transferred for 6 days to saltwater enriched with deuterated water 2 H2O. Incorporation of 2 H-labelling follows well-defined metabolic steps, and analysis of triacylglycerols (TAG) 2 H-enrichment by 2 H-NMR allowed evaluation of de novo lipogenesis (DNL) in muscle and visceral adipose tissue (VAT). Fractional synthetic rates for TAGbound fatty acids and glycerol were quantified separately providing a detailed lipogenic profile. The FA profile differed substantially between muscle and VAT in both species, but their lipogenic fluxes revealed even greater differences. In European seabass, HS promoted DNL of TAG-bound FA, in muscle and VAT. High 2 Henrichment also found in muscle TAG-bound glycerol was indicative of its role on lipid cycling. In Asian seabass, HS had no effect on muscle FA composition and lipogenic flux, with no 2 H-enriched TAG being detected. VAT on the other hand revealed a strong enhancement of DNL in HS-fed fish along with high TAG-bound glycerol cycling. This study consolidated the use of 2 H2O as tracer for fish lipid metabolism in different tissues, under different dietary conditions and suitable to use in different fish models.