Abstract
The fatty acid composition of 20 species of marine animals, primarily fishes and crustaceans, was determined by gas–liquid chromatography. The species came from various depths down to 4400 m. The results showed that the medium-chain saturated and the long-chain polyunsaturated acids decreased with increasing depth, while oleic acid increased. It was thought that this indicated the presence of large amounts of wax esters. A benthic, mud-feeding holothurian Scoloplanes theeli was shown to have a fatty acid composition markedly different from that of pelagic species. This was attributed in part to the bacterial components of its diet.