The lipid content and fatty acid composition of various marine species from southern Australian coastal waters

1. 1. The total lipids were extracted from the flesh of 25 species of temperate Australian fish and cephalopods and the fatty acid composition was determined by capillary gas chromatography. 2. 2. All species were rich in palmitic acid (range 16-25% of total fatty acids) and docosahexaenoic acid (range 15-53%). There were variable amounts of arachidonic acid (range 1-15%) and eicosapentaenoic acid (range 3-23%). 3. 3. The omnivorous species of bony fish contained more arachidonic acid (mean 10%) than the carnivorous bony fish (mean 5%). The cartilaginous species were relatively low in eicosapentaenoic acid (mean 5%) whereas the cephalopods contained high levels of this fatty acid (mean 18%).