The metabolism of wax esters and other lipids by the marine copepod, Calanus helgolandicus

Abstract

The polyunsaturated wax esters which occur in an oil droplet in Calanus helgolandicus apparently serve as a short term reserve metabolic fuel. The lipids of the copepods were labeled by feeding them 14C-labeled diatoms, Skeletonema costatum, after which starvation and turnover experiments were carried out. During starvation both wax esters and triglycerides are largely depleted within 72 hr, whereas cholesterol and phospholipid decreased at much slower rates.

Keywords

• phospholipids
• cholesterol
• crustaceans
• triglycerides
• starvation