Wax esters in fish: Turnover of oleic acid in wax esters and triglycerides of gouramis.

Methyl U-(14)C oleate was fed to mature male and female gouramis (Trichogaster cosby) and the radioactivity in lipids measured over a period of four months. Initial incorporations were 70-80% and more than half of that was still in the lipids at the end of the experiment. Very little conversion of the 18∶1 chain had occurred. Main storage of the labeled 18∶1 chain was in the wax esters of the roe and in the triglycerides of the body. In the wax esters, 18∶1 occurred in both the alcohol and acid moieties. Initially the females had less radioactivity in the triglycerides than in the wax esters but at the end of the experiment this was reversed. An appreciable amount of 18∶1 had been transferred from roe to body lipids. The biological half life of 18∶1 in gouramis is estimated to be about four months. This time is equal for males and females although translocation from roe to body and transformation of wax ester to triglyceride take place in the female, whereas wax esters do not play any role in the lipid metabolism of the male.