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The composition of lipids and fatty acids was determined for the livers, muscle, pancreas, kidney and stomach Xuids of deepwater chondrichthyan species (including 11 squaliformes, 3 chimaeriformes, 1 hexanchiforme and 3 carcharhiniformes) caught as bycatch from continental waters oV south-eastern Australia. The lipid class, fatty acid and fatty alcohol composition diVered markedly in each tissue and in each species. The lipid and fatty acid composition of large, lipid-rich (38–70% wet weight, ww) livers demonstrated the multifunctional role of this organ in: lipid distribution, storage and biosynthesis, and buoyancy regulation. In the liver, the importance of certain lipids (including squalene, diacylglyceryl ethers, triacylglycerols and to a lesser extent wax esters) as mediators of buoyancy varied according to lifestyle and habitat. Less variability was observed in the muscle proWles, characterized by low lipid content (<1.0% ww) and high relative levels of polar lipids (>70%). The lipid and fatty acid proWles of the kidney and pancreas showed the highest intraspeciWc variability, suggesting these organs also have complex roles in lipid storage and metabolism. Overall intra- and interspeciWc diVerences in the tissue fatty acid proWles could be related to diVerences in a number of factors including phylogeny, habitat (depth), buoyancy regulation and diet and presumably also reXect diVerent ecological roles. The lipid and fatty acid proWles are the Wrst published for Rhinochimaera paciWca, Chimaera lignaria and Figaro boardmani and the Wrst to demonstrate interspeciWc variation in lipid proWles of various tissues of deepwater chondrichthyans. The application of multivariate analysis to lipid class and fatty acid tissue proWles in chondrichthyans inferred dietary diVerences and metabolic preferences between species and habitats. These results have important implications for the future use of fatty acids as dietary tracers in chondrichthyan research.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Ecology
Research Field:	Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Marine systems and management
Objective Field:	Marine biodiversity
UTAS Author:	Pethybridge, HR (Miss Heidi Pethybridge)
UTAS Author:	Virtue, P (Associate Professor Patti Virtue)
ID Code:	68439
Year Published:	2010
Web of Science® Times Cited:	49
Deposited By:	IMAS Research and Education Centre
Deposited On:	2011-03-11
Last Modified:	2011-05-10
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