Lipids of parasitic copepods associated with marine fish

Abstract

1. 1. The parasitic copepods, Lepeophthirus salmonis, Lepeophthirus oblitus, Clavella perfida, and Caligus sp. collected in British Columbia, Canada, all had triglycerides as the major storage lipid. Free-living copepods of the area used wax esters as the primary reserve fuel. 2. 2. The hydrocarbon pattern of the parasitic copepods was closer to that of skin on the host fish than to the hydrocarbons of their free-living relatives.