Abstract
All stages from egg to adult of the North Pacific copepod,Euchaeta japonica contained wax esters in their lipid stores, while triglycerides were important only in the eggs, early naupliar stages, and adults. The large lipid reserves of the eggs were wax esters and triglycerides (58% and 19% of the lipid, respectively), both of which were used rapidly during the early stages of development. Wax esters continued to decrease after triglycerides had been utilized completely for energy. The slow metabolism of lipid during starvation indicated that lipid stores in adult females may be conserved for egg production. The dominant alcohols of the wax esters of all stages were tetradecanol (24–42% of the total) and hexadecanol (25–65%). Only minor amounts of polyunsaturated alcohols were observed. There was, however, a high proportion of polyunsaturation in the wax ester fatty acids, even though octadecenoic was generally predominant (16–46% of the total wax ester fatty acids). The polyunsaturation of the wax esters fatty acids and the presence of 21∶6 hydrocarbon suggest phytoplankton in the diet of adults and in the younger stages. Cholesterol was the main sterol, but there were minor amounts of desmosterol (1–12% of the total sterols) present. The latter sterol has not been found previously in copepods, although reported from Cirripedia and Decapoda.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Lee, R.F., J.C. Nevenzel, and G.-A. Paffenhöfer,Science 167:1508 (1970).
Lee, R.F., J.C. Nevenzel, G.-A. Paffenhöfer, and A.A. Benson, J. Lipid Res. 11:237 (1970).
Lee, R.F., J. Hirota, and A.M. Barnett, Deep Sea Res. 18:1147 (1971).
Davis, C.C., Univ. Wash. Publ. Biol. 14:1 (1949).
Campbell, M.H., J. Biol. Bd. Can. 1:1 (1934).
Lewis, A.G., and A. Ramnarine, J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 26:1347 (1969).
Lewis, A.G., A. Ramnarine, and M.S. Evans, Mar. Biol. 11:1 (1971).
Nevenzel, J.C., W. Rodegker, and J.F. Mead, Biochemistry 4:1589 (1965).
Lee, R.F., J.C. Nevenzel, and G.-A. Paffenhöfer, Mar. Biol. 9:99 (1971).
Armenta, J.S., J. Lipid Res. 5:270 (1964).
Parsons, J.G., and S. Patton, Ibid. 8:696 (1967).
Lee, R.F., J.C. Nevenzel, G.-A. Paffenhöfer, A.A. Benson, S. Patton, and T.E. Kavanagh, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 202:386 (1970).
Blumer, M., M.M. Mullin, and R.R.L. Guillard, Mar. Biol. 6:226 (1970).
Lee, R.F., and A.R. Loeblich, Phytochemistry 10:593 (1971).
Fox, D.L., V.E. Smith, and A.A. Wolfson, Experientia 23:965 (1967).
Zagalsky, P.F., and P.J. Herring, Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 41B:397 (1972).
Thompson, M.J., J.A. Svoboda, N.N. Kaplanis, and W.E. Roberts, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. (Series B) 180:203 (1972).
Nicholls, A.G., Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 54:31 (1934).
Littlepage, J.L., Actual. Sci. Ind. 1312:463 (1964).
Corkett, C.J., and I.A. McLaren, J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 3:90 (1969).
Lee, R.F., and J. Hirota, Limnol. Oceanogr. 18:227 (1973).
Giese, A.C., Physiol. Rev. 46:244 (1966).
Pandian, J.J., Helgolander Wiss. Meeresunters. 16:216 (1967).
Pandian, J.J., and K.-H. Schumann, Ibid. 16:225 (1967).
Dawson, R.M.C., and H. Barnes, J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 46:249 (1966).
Lee, R.F., J.C. Nevenzel, and G.-A. Paffenhöfer, Naturwissenschaften 59:406 (1972).
Pandyan, A.A., Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., 1971.
Ackman, R.G., C.S. Tocher, and J. McLachlan, J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 25:1603 (1968).
Chuecas, L., and J.P. Riley, J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 49:97 (1969).
Ackman, R.G., and C.A. Eaton, J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 28:601 (1971).
Nevenzel, J.C., W. Rodegker, J.S. Robinson, and M. Kayama, Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 31:25 (1969).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, R.F., Nevenzel, J.C. & Lewis, A.G. Lipid changes during life cycle of marine copepod,Euchaeta japonica marukawa. Lipids 9, 891–898 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02532615
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02532615