Lipid composition of eyes from american (Homarus americanus) and European (Homarus gammarus) lobsters

1. The lipid composition of eyes from American (Homarus americanus) and European (Homarus gammarus) lobsters were analysed and compared. Polar lipid comprised around 60% of the total lipid in both species with diradyl glycerophosphocholine (CPL) and diradyl glycerophosphoethanolamine (EPL) being the major classes which were present in approximately equal concentrations. Cholesterol was the major component of neutral lipid. 2. Total lipid fatty acid compositions showed that 20:5 n-3 (EPA), 22:6 n-3 (DHA), 16:0 and 18:1 n-9 were the most abundant fatty acids in both species but H. americanus contained significantly more polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and significantly fewer saturated fatty acids than H. gammarus. 3. The fatty acid compositions of individual phospholipids showed that EPL contained the highest levels of n-3 and total PUFA and that CPL contained the lowest PUFA levels. In all phospholipids EPA was the most abundant n-3 PUFA. The n-6 PUFA (principally 20:4 n-6) were most abundant in phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylinositol (PI). 4. In general, the phospholipid classes of H. americanus contained significantly more PUFA (largely due to increased EPA) and fewer saturates (largely due to decreased 18:0) than those of H. gammarus.