Effects of Salinity on Lipid Composition in Juvenile Pinc Salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Salmonidae)

Abstract

Lipid and fatty acid modifications induced by the effects of various salinity patterns on the juvenile pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (the Olkhovka River and the White Sea) within the experiment have been revealed. Concentrations of steroids, saturated fatty acids, and signaling molecules such as phospholipids (phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol) and arachidonic acid under the hyperosmotic stress-related effects (keeping the fish for 1 h in the seawater after the time of transfer from the freswater) tend to increase. Decreases in phosphatidylcholine and n-6 saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids are recorded in the juvenile pink salmon fish kept for 24 h in the seawater after the time of transfer them from the freswater, while the levels of phosphatidylethanolamine and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids), on the contrary, tend to rise significantly. Lipid composition modifications in the juvenile pink salmon fish kept under the hypoosmotic stress conditions (24 h in freshwater after 24 h in seawater) induce stabilization of functioning the cell membrane structure, since the levels of bioeffectors including phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids tend to decrease. A reduced amount of lipids (triacylglycerols) stored as an energy reserve is shown for all the experimental fish groups. The outcomes indicate the high levels of adaptive potential of the juvenile pink salmon fish kept under the effects of abrupt salinity change in the water environments and their readiness for downstream migration not long before leaving the nests.