Variation in fatty acid composition among nine forage species from a southeastern US estuarine and nearshore coastal ecosystem.

The fatty acid (FA) composition of nine potentially important forage species was determined (n = 330): red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), striped mullet (Mugil cephalus), pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus), star drum (Stellifer lanceolatus), striped anchovy (Anchoa hepsetus), and brief squid (Lolliguncula brevis). Samples were collected from estuarine and nearshore coastal waters around Charleston, South Carolina, USA, from March 2002-February 2003. Twenty-nine of 125 identified FAs were included in multivariate analyses of FA profiles. Despite existing intraspecific variation, the PRIMER routine analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) indicated each species was distinct, and discriminant function analysis correctly classified 99.5% of the training data set samples (n = 221) and 98.2% of the validation samples (n = 109). Most species could be characterized by distinctive levels of a suite of FAs. Our results indicated FA profiles can be used to reliably distinguish even closely related forage species in this southeastern US estuarine ecosystem. The information gained from this study not only provides insight into the biochemical composition of these important species but also provides fundamental information to support studies on the feeding ecology of local higher-level predators.