CHARACTERIZATION OF MOLECULAR-SPECIES OF WAX ESTERS IN MYCTOPHID FISHES

We isolated and characterized wax esters from some species of myctophi d fish, which are rich in wax esters, i.e., Stenobrachius leucopsarus, Stenobrachius nannochir and Lampanyctus regalis, through TLC, HPLC, G C and mass spectrometry. Wax esters with carbon chain lengths ranging from 30 to 44 were the major constituents among the above three specie s, always accounting for more than 90% of the total wax esters. The pr edominant molecules in the wax esters were 34:1 (16:0-18:1, alkoxyacyl ) in S. leucopsarus, 34:1 (16:0-18:1), 40:2 (22:1-18:1) and 38:2 (20:1 -18:1) in S. nannochir, and 40:2 (22:1-.18:1), 42:2 (22:1-20:1, 20:1-2 2:1) in L. regalis, respectively. The molecular patterns in the above species coincided well with the random prediction.