Lipids of fish parasites and their hosts: fatty acid fingerprints of four species of acanthocephalans and of their hosts' intestinal tissues.

The fatty acid fingerprints of total lipid extracts from the four fish parasites Acanthocephalus lucii, Neoechinorhynchus rutili, Paratenuisentis ambiguus, and Pomphorhynchus laevis were investigated by capillary gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). The fatty acid patterns of the parasites were compared with those of their respective host tissue, viz., intestinal tract tissue of infected perch, brown trout, eel, and chub. The highly complex gas chromatograms revealed significant differences not only between parasite and host tissue but also between the parasites themselves. For instance, all the parasites contained much more eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) than did the respective fish intestinal tissue. Differences were also observed between the presoma and metasoma of Pomphorhynchus laevis.