The fatty acid composition and lipid content of white muscle, liver and mes
enteric fat, in reared v. wild sharpsnout sea bream (Diplodus puntazzo) wer
e compared. The mesenteric fat index (100 x mesenteric fat weight/body weig
ht) and the lipid contents of both white muscle and liver proved consistent
ly higher in farmed v. wild sharpsnout sea bream (79.0 (se 13.1) v. 38.7 (s
e 5.1) g/kg, 188.4 (se 30.0) v. 58.2 (se 3.9) g/kg and 27.2 (se 3.7) v. 17.
3 (se 1.9) g/kg, respectively). The higher values of linoleic, eicosapentae
noic, docosahexaenoic and n-3 series acids in reared fish muscle make reare
d sharpsnout more favourable for human consumption. In reared fish mesenter
ic fat, polyunsaturated fatty acids reached higher levels (32.54 (se 0.71)
g/100 g total fatty acids than those found in wild fish (26.08 (se 1.38) g/
100 g total fatty acids or even present in the diet (28.34 g/100 g total fa
tty acids). Compared with cultured fish, wild sharpsnout displayed a higher
content of n-3 fatty acids in liver fat (31.67 (se 1.13) g/100 g total fat
ty acids), but lower in mesenteric fat (20.35 (se 1.41) g/100 g total fatty
acids). Atherogenic index values were similar for wild and reared fish in
all tissues, while the index of thrombogenicity of muscle and mesenteric fa
t (0.353 (se 0.012) and 0.402 (se 0.021) respectively) was significantly in
creased in wild fish probably due to the omnivorous habits of the species a
nd/or to seasonal food variations. Depending on the time of the year or the
season, reared fish could be more suitable for human consumption than wild
fish.