Similarities in the lipid class profiles of oils from Atlantic and Pacific dogfish livers

Liver oils from Atlantic and Pacific dogfish (Squalus acanthias) have been compared for lipid classes, fatty acids of the total oil and of important lipid classes, and details of the alkyl chains in the 1-O-alkyl-2,3-diacylglycerol ethers (DAGE). In general there were few striking differences, confirming the view of biologists that these sharks are one species. The Pacific dogfish liver oil had a higher content (41.2%) of DAGE than the oil from Atlantic dogfish (18.2%). Both oils had all common and expected fatty acids in the proportions usual for marine oils, but they differed in the eicosenoic chains of the glycerol ethers (GE). The Pacific oil was unusual in having low but similar proportions of two alkyl chain isomers, 20:1n-11 and 20:1n-9. The Atlantic oil was very high in the 20:1n-11 isomer, which is usually lower than 20:1n-9 in the fatty acids of most regional marine oils. Unexpectedly, the DAGE of both oils had further unusual 20:1 isomer proportion in the GE chain, with 20:1n-7 >20:1n-9. Minor oddities in the fatty acids may reflect different basic food sources. Presented in part at the 84th Annual Meeting of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, Atlanta, GA, May 8–12, 1994.