Fatty acids of the depot fats from the blue-banded sea snake ( Laticauda colubrina) and its principal food the conger eel ( Conger cinerus)

Abstract

1. 1. Fats were recovered from individual male and female blue-banded sea snakes Laticauda colubrina and a favoured eel food of the female ( Conger cinerus). 2. 2. The fatty acid composition of the depot fats of the two sexes were remarkably similar. Only two fatty acids (16:1 n-7 and 20:4 n-6) in the female reflected a specific dietary role for the eel fat. 3. 3. Overall the fatty acid composition was similar to that of some marine turtles, but proportions of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids resembled those of the terrestrial New Zealand tuatara ( Sphenodon punctatus). 4. 4. These details suggest a general basic fatty acid pattern for tropical and subtropical reptile fats, but linoleic (18:2 n-6) and linolenic (18:3 n-3) may be higher in the fats of terrestrial animals.