Three sample lots of curimbatá (Prochilodus scrofa) captured from the Mogi Guaçu River, Brazil, were analyzed for their lipid content and fatty acid composition. Separation into neutral and phospholipids was accomplished by silica column chromatography. The fatty acid composition was determined by GLC with fused silica capillary columns, SE-54, and Carbowax 20M. Identification was based on chromatographic data (retention times, separation factors, ECL values, semilog plots, order of elution from the two columns) and GLC-MS. The total lipids (6.0 ± 1.4% of the muscle, fresh weight basis) were 88.1 ± 2.1% neutral lipids and 11.8 ± 2.7% phospholipids. Of the total lipids 76 fatty acids and dimethylacetals were detected, the principal components being 16:0 (25.4 ± 3.8%), 16:1n7 (16.3 ± 2.0%), 18:1n9 + n7 (15.3 ± 2.6%), 18:0 (5.2 ± 0.5%), 14:0 (4.3 ± 0.7%), 18:3n3 (3.7 ± 0.2%), 20:5n3 (3.1 ± 0.5%), 20:4n6 (2.6 ± 0.5%), and 18:2n6(2.5 ± 0.1%). The neutral lipids showed the same profile. The phospholipid fraction contained higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The major constituents were 16:0 (23.7 ± 0.4%), 22:6n3 (12.2 ± 0.6%), 20:4n6 (10.5 ± 1.6%), 20:5n3 (8.3 ± 2.2%.), 18:0 (6.9 ± 0.5%), 16:1n7 (4.4 ± 0.6%), 18:1n7 (4.3 ± 0.3%), 18:1n9 (4.0 ± 0.5%), 22:5n6 (3.9 ± 2.0%), and 22:5n3 (3.6 ± 1.3%).