Fatty acids in the circulatory system of an invasive king crab from the Barents Sea

We assayed fatty acids in the cardiac muscle and hemolymph of adult crabs collected in the coastal Barents Sea. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were the major fatty acids (273 mu g mL(-1) or 42.8% in the hemolymph and 3130 mu g g(-1) or 59.7% in the cardiac muscle) followed by saturated fatty acids (201 mu g mL(-1) or 33.9% and 1290 mu g g(-1) or 24.8%, respectively) and monounsaturated fatty acids (143 mu g mL(-1) or 23.3% and 815 mu g g(-1) or 15.6%, respectively). The n-3/n-6 ratios in these tissues were 3.4 and 4.3, respectively. Fatty acid profiles were similar in females and males, in crabs with different shell conditions and in different-sized crabs. The crabs captured on soft bottoms contained significantly higher concentrations of fatty acids in their hemolymph than the crabs from hard bottoms probably owing to differences in their diets. In general, fatty acid levels in the cardiac muscle were 1.5-3 times higher than in the leg muscle reflecting higher functional load of the heart compared to walking legs. We suggest that both byproducts that now are discarded during red king crab processing could be considered additional sources for extracting valuable n-3 fatty acids.

Automated summary

This study investigated the fatty acid composition in the cardiac muscle and hemolymph of adult crabs collected in the coastal Barents Sea. The results showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids were the major fatty acids in both tissues, followed by saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acid profiles were similar among different groups of crabs. The study also suggested that the discarded byproducts from red king crab processing could be a potential additional source for extracting valuable n-3 fatty acids.