Comparative studies on fatty acid composition of the ovaries and hepatopancreas at different physiological stages of the Chinese mitten crab

The fatty acid composition of the ovary at different physiological stages (immature, mature, spawning, egg loss and abortion) of the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis was investigated with capillary gas chromatograph. A total of 18 types of fatty acids were found in the ovary of E. sinensis. Three of them were major fatty acids: oleic acid (C18:1) (31.96–37.31%), palmitic acid (C16:0) (16.42–23.03%) and palmitoleic acid (C16:1) (16.46–18.43%). Among the total fatty acids, the content of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were the highest (50.71–55.65%), saturated fatty acids (SFA) were the second (20.23–29.22%), and polyunsaturated and high unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were the lowest (16.58–27.87%). Comparative studies of the ovary and hepatopancreas at different physiological stages found significant differences in the content of fatty acids, SFA, MUFA, PUFA and ω3/ω6. Some fatty acids were not detectable at certain stages. It is noteworthy that arachidonic acid (C20:4) was only found in the egg-losing crabs. The fatty acid composition and the content of fatty acids in the ovaries have a direct relationship with E. sinensis abortion or egg loss.