The potential identification of the geographic origin of lobster eggs from various wild stocks based on fatty acid composition

Abstract

The fatty acids of lipids from eggs of five lobsters (Homarus americanus) collected at Brown's Bank (offshore), Lobster Bay (near shore), and Hunt's Point (near shore) were analyzed to determine whether compositional patterns might be used to distinguish offshore from near-shore lobsters. Offshore samples had a higher content of monoenoic fatty acids, lower levels of 20:5n–3 and higher levels of 22:6n–3 than near-shore samples. All Hunt's Point samples contained about twice as much 20:4n–6 (4.81 ± 1.48%) as samples from other locations (2.05 ± 0.53% and 2.85 ± 0.75% for Lobster Bay and Brown's Bank, respectively). Similarly, the total percentages of n–6 fatty acids of Hunt's Point lobster eggs were significantly higher than samples from the other two locations (8.13 ± 1.31% vs. 4.28 ± 0.49% and 5.11 ± 1.08%). The content of 18:1n–9, 20:1n–5, 20:2n–6, 20:4n–6 and 21:5n–3 differed significantly among subsamples from different geographic locations. Only with 21:5n–3 was there no overlap in the percentage content between Lobster Bay lobsters and lobsters from the other two locations. Although no fatty acid was specific enough to distinguish eggs from any one location, discriminant analysis of fatty acids proved effective in identifying offshore from near-shore lobsters.