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Lipids and Buoyancy in Southern Ocean Pteropods

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 23:39 authored by Phleger, C, Nichols, P, Patti VirtuePatti Virtue
The lipids of Clione limacina, a Southern Ocean pteropod (order Gymnosomata), contain 28% diacylglyceryl ether (DAGE) (as percentage of total lipid) whereas the pteropod Limacina helicina (order Thecosomata) lacks DAGE. The alkyl glyceryl ether diols (1-O-alkyl glycerols, GE) of Clione DAGE are dominated by 16:0 (60%) and 15:0 (21%), in contrast with deep-sea shark liver DAGE, which is dominated by 18:1 GE. The fatty acid profiles of Clione and Limacina are similar (28–32% polyunsaturated, 26–34% monounsaturated) as are the sterols, which include 24-methylenecholesterol, transdehydrocholesterol, cholesterol, and desmosterol. This finding probably reflects the fact that Limacina is the major food source for Clione. Spongiobranchaea australis, another Southern Ocean pteropod (order Gymnosomata), has 0.9–1.7% DAGE, but has less lipid (3.3–4.8 mg/g lipid, wet weight) than Clione (50.8 mg/g lipid, wet weight). We propose a buoyancy role for DAGE in Clione since Limacina has bubbles for flotation which Clione lack; DAGE provides 23% more uplift than triacylglycerol at a concentration of 1.025 g/mL seawater.

History

Publication title

Lipids

Volume

32

Issue

10

Pagination

1093-1100

ISSN

0024-4201

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Amer Oil Chemists Soc A O C S Press

Place of publication

1608 Broadmoor Drive, Champaign, USA, Il, 61821-0489

Rights statement

Copyright 1997 AOCS Press

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Biodiversity in Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments

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