CHANGES IN THE DIGESTIVE GLAND OF EUPHAUSIA-SUPERBA DURING SHORT-TERMSTARVATION - LIPID CLASS, FATTY-ACID AND STEROL CONTENT AND COMPOSITION

During a period of short-term (19 d) starvation, total lipid in the di gestive gland of Euphausia superba Dana decreased from 21 to 9% dry we ight. Total lipid per digestive gland decreased significantly during s tarvation compared to Day 0 individuals, falling from 1960 (+/-172) to 385 (+/-81) mu g. Polar lipid was the major lipid class utilised duri ng starvation, falling from 1510 (+/-225) to 177 (+/-46) mu g per dige stive gland (76 to 45%). Absolute levels of triacylglycerol fell from 300 (+/-41) to 76 (+/-5) mu g; however, relative levels remained uncha nged. The relative level of free fatty acid increased significantly wi th starvation (4 to 39%) with absolute levels ranging from 79 (+/-1) t o 156 (+/-20) mu g per digestive gland. Absolute levels of all fatty a cids per digestive gland declined continually until the end of the sta rvation period. The long-chain polyunsaturated acids eicosapentaenoic (20:5 omega 3) and docosahexaenoic (22:6 omega 3), decreased with star vation from 37 to 26% and 15 to 10%, respectively whereas the saturate d fatty acid, palmitic acid (16:0), increased from 15 to 22%. Choleste rol, the major sterol in this organ, increased from 17 (+/-20) to 44 ( +/-13) mu g per digestive gland by Day 3, and by Day 19 had returned t o levels found in the digestive gland of Day 0 individuals. Desmostero l followed a similar pattern to cholesterol, increasing from 3 (+/-1) mu g per digestive gland on Day 0 to 11 (+/-4) mu g on Day 3, and fall ing to 2 (+/-1) mu g on Day 19. Other sterols in the digestive gland, predominantly of algal origin, fell from the levels found in Day 0 ind ividuals to near zero amounts by Day 6. The digestive gland of E. supe rba plays a dynamic role during shortterm starvation in terms of lipid content and composition. The relative levels of polar lipids, free fa tty acids and cholesterol in the digestive gland may provide reliable indices of the nutritional condition of E. superba in the field. Stero ls in the digestive gland are indicative of recent dietary composition of krill, and may also be used to quantify dietary input from individ ual phytoplanktonic species.