LIPID-CONTENT AND FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF 11 SPECIES OF QUEENSLAND (AUSTRALIA) FISH

The fatty acid composition of 11 species of fish caught off the northe ast coast of Australia was determined. No fatty acid profiles have bee n previously published for fish from this area nor for nine of these s pecies. Although the percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PU FA) was the same as the calculated average for Australian fish (42.3%), th e percentage of n-3 fatty acids was lower (24.4 +/- 5.4% vs. 30.7 +/- 10.1%) and the n-6 fatty acids higher (16.5 +/- 4.5% vs. 11.2 +/- 5.9% ), P < 0.001 in each case. The major n-3 PUFA were docosahexaenoic (15 .6 +/- 6.3%) and eicosapentaenoic acid (4.3 +/- 1.1%) while the major n-6 PUFA were arachidonic (8.3 +/- 3.2%) and n-6 docosatetraenoic acid (3.1 +/- 1.3%). The second-most abundant class of fatty acid was the saturates (31.6 +/- 3.5%) while the monounsaturates accounted for 17.4 +/- 4.3% of the total fatty acids. The monounsaturate with the highes t concentration was octadecenoic acid (11.8 +/- 2.6%). There was a pos itive correlation between the total lipid content and saturated and mo nounsaturated fatty acids (r = 0.675 and 0.567, respectively) and a ne gative correlation between the total lipid content and PUFA(r = 0.774) .