FLUCTUATIONS IN FAT AND WATER CONTENTS OF TWO SPECIES OF SERRANID FISHES IN THE EGYPTIAN MEDITERRANEAN WATERS.

FLUCTUATIONS IN FAT AND WATER CONTENTS OF TWO SPECIES OF

SERRANID FISHES IN THE EGYPTIAN MEDITERRANEAN WATERS.

M.Y. MIKHAIL*; A.A. EZZAT**; M.T. HASHEM* AND W.F. WADlE*
* Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria, Egypt.
** Department of Oceanography, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt.
ABSTRACT
The study of fluctuations in the fat and water contents of
Epinephelus aeneus and Ep1nephelus alexandrinus revealed that the
amount of hepatic lipids was higher than muscle lipid.
In different fish species, fat content shows individual variations
and young fish usually contains lower fat content than adult.
However, for both species under study, it was observed that fat
content in the muscle of youngs was higher than in adults, although
water content was generally higher in the youngs than adults.
This study also revealed the presel]ce of an inverse relationship
between fat and water content for both species in muscle and liver.
The present work showed that the amount of hepatic fat is lower
in pre-spawners and spawners.
The amount of hepatic fat in Epinephelus alexandrinus is less
than in E. aeneus, while flesh fats are higher in E. alexandr1nus
than in E. aeneus in both youngs and adults.