Total lipid content, and lipid and fatty acid composition of the deep-water prawn Pandulus borealis from Balsfjord, northern Norway: growth and feeding relationships

Abstract

Variations in total lipid content (g of lipid, and as % of wet and dry body weights) of the prawn Pandalus borealis, ranging from eggs to 52 mo old adults, indicate that lipid growth exhibits marked seasonal oscillations while growth in carapace length shows only comparatively weak seasonality. Positive (anabolic) lipid growth occurs from about April to September inclusive (with up to 40 % of dry body weight as lipid), the major production season for both phytoplankton and herbivorous zooplankton. Negative (catabolic) lipid growth (with lipid being reduced to about 10 % of dry weight) is prominent during the winter. Correspondence analysis involving the relative body-content of total lipid, total protein, ash and water indicates that both 'age' and 'seasonally' related trends are visible, lipid tends to play an increasingly important rBle with age but lipid levels oscillate between peaks in late summer (AugusVSeptember) and troughs in late winter (February/March). Qualitative investigations of gut contents and analyses of lipid-class composition and fatty acid food-chain markers of selected sizes and ages of prawn indicate that lipid-rich zooplankton (mainly copepods and krill) form the bulk of the food of prawns from 1 to 4 yr old. Although benthic polychaetes and detrital material tend to increase in relative importance with increasing size and age of prawn, they are of secondary importance compared to pelagic organisms. The older prawns frequently contained substantial numbers of capelin scales, probably from feeding on discarded fish from prawn trawling. This study thus reveals that P borealis in north Norwegian fjords is linked trophically to the highly seasonal pelagic production cycle. The lipid percentage of P borealis is, however, less than that of herbivorous zooplankton but substantially greater than that of the lipid-deficient benthos. INTRODUCTIONThe deep-water prawn Pandalus borealis Krayer is important both commercially and ecologically; despite this, little information exists about its body composition, and thus its nutritional value as a prey species (Shumway et al. 1985, Hopkins et al. 1989a). In general, little is known about the body composition of many caridean decapods, and even less is known about the relative energetics of the body components with regard to age or season (Vernberg 1987).Although growth in Pandalus borealis is often viewed in simple terms as changes in carapace length (CL) per unit time (see Frechette & Parsons 1983), recent studies of high-latitude marine organisms have emphasized that 'growth' is a complex blend of factors and body components, which interplay in a dynamic manner with regard to age, season and functional requirements (Hopkins et al. , 1989b ABSTRACT: Variations in total lipid content (g of lipid, and as % of wet and dry body weights) of the prawn Pandalus borealjs, ranging from eggs to 52 mo old adults, indicate that lipid growth exhibits marked seasonal oscillations while growth in carapace length shows only comparatively weak seasonality. Pos...

Lipids in Arctic benthos: does the fatty acid and alcohol composition reflect feeding and trophic interactions?

“…Thus, the enhanced levels of 18:1(n-7) fatty acid in decapods suggest that it was of dietary origin rather than a species-specific marker fatty acid. This conclusion is also supported by the comparison with the fatty acid composition of Pandalus borealis from the north Norwegian Balsfjorden (Hopkins et al 1993), in which only low levels of 18:1(n-7) were found.…”

“…Due to its commercial importance, extensive lipid investigations have been performed on P. borealis from the north Norwegian Balsfjord (Hopkins et al 1993) and off the south coast of Nova Scotia (Ackman and Eaton 1967). Additionally, lipids of three sea star species from the Balsfjord were studied (Sargent et al 1983), as well as fatty acids in species from a shallow-water hydrothermal habitat off the Kurile Islands (Kharlamenko et al 1995).…”

Tracing fish farm waste in the northern shrimp ­Pandalus borealis (Krøyer, 1838) using lipid biomarkers

“…Shrimp are an important link between the benthic and higher trophic levels (Shumway et al 1985), and the documentation of the shift in FAs between shrimp collected at farming locations compared with reference locations has provided a greater insight into the effect of fish farming on the local benthic food web. The general FA profile of the reference shrimp in these investigations resembled the profiles reported earlier by Ackman & Eaton (1967) and Hopkins et al (1993). The FA composition in shrimp and the changes that occurred when experimentally influenced by farm-originated matter was thoroughly described by Olsen et al (2009).…”

Lipid dynamics during the embryonic development of Plesionika martia martia (Decapoda; Pandalidae), Palaemon serratus and P. elegans (Decapoda; Palaemonidae): relation to metabolic consumption

“…Although a similar trend of FA composition and depletion has been found in the present study, some small differences were encountered. Intraspecific differences have been attributed to female feeding ecology (Biesiot & Perry 1995), nutritional and physiological condition (Amsler & George 1984, Hopkins et al 1993, Wehrtmann & Kattner 1998, differential demands on resource allocation (Jaeckle 1995), and geographic and seasonal variations in embryonic development (Wehrtmann & Kattner 1998).…”