Polymethylene-interrupted fatty acids: Biomarkers for native and exotic mussels in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Abstract

Freshwater organisms synthesize a wide variety of fatty acids (FAs); however, the ability to synthesize and/or subsequently modify a particular FA is not universal, making it possible to use certain FAs as biomarkers. Herein we document the occurrence of unusual FAs (polymethylene-interrupted fatty acids; PMI-FAs) in select freshwater organisms in the Laurentian Great Lakes. We did not detect PMI-FAs in: (a) natural seston from Lake Erie and Hamilton Harbor (Lake Ontario), (b) various species of laboratory-cultured algae including a green alga ( Scenedesmus obliquus), two cyanobacteria ( Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Synechococystis sp.), two diatoms ( Asterionella formosa, Diatoma elongatum) and a chrysophyte ( Dinobryon cylindricum) or, (c) zooplankton ( Daphnia spp., calanoid or cyclopoid copepods) from Lake Ontario, suggesting that PMI-FAs are not substantively incorporated into consumers at the phytoplankton–zooplankton interface. However, these unusual FAs comprised 4–6% of total fatty acids (on a dry tissue weight basis) of native fat mucket ( Lampsilis siliquoidea) and plain pocketbook ( L. cardium) mussels and in invasive zebra ( Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga ( D. bugensis) mussels. We were able to clearly partition Great Lakes' mussels into three separate groups (zebra, quagga, and native mussels) based solely on their PMI-FA profiles. We also provide evidence for the trophic transfer of PMI-FAs from mussels to various fishes in Lakes Ontario and Michigan, further underlining the potential usefulness of PMI-FAs for tracking the dietary contribution of mollusks in food web and contaminant-fate studies.