Comparison of the fatty acid profile of wild caught fingerlings and yolk sac sea bass (<i>Dicentrarchus labrax</i>) larvae with cultured healthy larvae and larvae suffering from whirling disease

Analysis of the fatty acids of total lipids of wild fingerlings (1-4 g) of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) caught off the northcoast of France shows that more than 30% of total fatty acids consists of the two essential fatty acids eiopentaenoic (C20:5 n-3) and docosahaenoic (C22:6 n-3) acids. One- and three-day old yolk sac larvae have even higher amounts of these two important fatty acids (about 40%). On the other hand, laboratory-reared 60-day old larvae had much lower concentrations of C20:5 n-3 (4% of total fatty acids) and C22:6 n-3 (5,5% of total fatty acids). In larvae suffering from whirling or spinning disease the percentage of C20:5 n-3 was only 2,8% and only traces of C22:6 n-3 were found. These results emphasize the importance of these fatty acids for cultured sea bass larvae