Tandard error of the imply SFA Saturated fatty acid(s)L. I. E. Couturier and C. A. Rohner contributed equally. L. I. E. Couturier ( ) ?M. B. Bennett School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia e-mail: [email protected] L. I. E. Couturier ?C. A. Rohner ?A. J. Richardson ?F. R. A. Jaine Climate Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Investigation, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia C. A. Rohner ?S. J. Pierce ?A. D. Marshall Manta Ray and Whale Shark Research Centre, Marine Megafauna Foundation, Praia do Tofo, Inhambane, Mozambique C. A. Rohner ?F. R. A. Jaine ?S. J. Weeks Biophysical Oceanography Group, School of Geography, Arranging and Environmental L-type calcium channel web Management, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia A. J. Richardson Centre for Applications in Natural Resource Mathematics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia S. J. Pierce ?A. D. Marshall Wild Me, Praia do Tofo, Inhambane, Mozambique K. A. Townsend School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia P. D. Nichols Wealth from Oceans Flagship, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart, TAS 7000, AustraliaLipids (2013) 48:1029?Introduction The whale shark Rhincodon typus along with the reef manta ray Manta alfredi are giant planktivorous elasmobranchs which are presumed to feed predominantly on aggregations of zooplankton in extremely productive areas [1, 2]. Direct research around the eating plan of these elasmobranchs are restricted to examination of a handful of stomach contents, faecal material and steady isotope analyses [3?], while recent field observations suggest that their diets are largely composed of crustacean zooplankton [1, 7]. It is actually unknown, however, whether or not near-surface zooplankton are a major or only a minor portion of their diets, whether these huge elasmobranchs target other prey, or no matter if they feed in areas other than surface waters along productive coastlines. Right here we employed signature fatty acid (FA) evaluation to assess dietary preferences of R. typus and M. alfredi. The vital long-chain (CC20) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) of fishes are probably derived straight from the diet plan, as greater consumers usually lack the ability to biosynthesise these FA de novo [8, 9]. The fatty acid profile of zooplankton is generally dominated by PUFA having a higher n-3/n-6 ratio, and normally includes high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and/or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) [8, 10, 11]. Thinking of this, it was expected that FA profiles of R. typus and M. alfredi tissues could be similarly n-3 PUFA dominated.Components and Strategies Tissue samples had been collected from reside, unrestrained specimens in southern Mozambique (14 R. typus and 12 M. alfredi) and eastern Australia (9 M. alfredi) using a modified Hawaiian hand-sling having a fitted biopsy needle tip amongst June ugust 2011. Biopsies of R. typus had been extracted laterally between the 1st and 2nd dorsal fin and penetrated 20 mm deep in the skin into the underlying connective tissue. Biopsies of M. alfredi were of equivalent size, but were primarily muscle tissue, extracted from the ventro-posterior region of your pectoral fins away from the physique cavity. Biopsies had been straight away place on ice in the field after which stored at -20 for up to 3 months ahead of SHP2 review analysis. Lipids had been extracted overnight working with the modified Bligh and Dyer [12] technique using a one-phase methanol:chloroform:water (2:1:0.eight by volume) mixture. Phases.