Abstract
Red drum Sciaenops ocellatus, a euryhaline fish species, is the target of considerable conservation effort by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. To aid the conservation effort, a study was conducted to determine if fatty acid profiles in muscles of subadult red drums (>30 cm total length and sexually immature) differ significantly between wild and cultured fish. This information may help regulatory enforcement by establishing fatty acid profiling as a forensic tool for conservation biologists and law enforcement officials who must distinguish cultured red drums from illegally marketed wild red drums. Red drums were sampled from summer 1990 to spring 1991 from four Texas coastal bay systems and from two commercial aquaculture ventures. Four fatty acids were identified as diagnostic. Linoleic acid (18:2n-6) was significantly lower in wild red drums than in cultured red drums. Arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) and adrenic acid (22:4n-6) were significantly higher in wild than in cultured fish. Docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-6) was significantly higher in wild than in cultured red drums except in Matagorda Bay fish collected in the fall.
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