Fatty acid allocation between muscle and gonads of Senegalese sardinellas under upwelling influence
Abstract
Sardinellas (Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis) are small pelagic fish that play a critical ecological and socio-economic role in West African coasts. These species primarily feed on plankton, a rich source of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (ARA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This study investigated the relationship between the muscle and gonad LC-PUFA profiles and the physiological status in both males and females at two periods of the upwelling season (January and March, 2022). Fatty acid profiles were measured in storage and membrane lipids to capture environmental and physiological variations, respectively. The ARA and DHA contents were largely enriched in membrane lipids as compared to reserve lipids. Within membrane lipids, gonads contained higher levels of LC-PUFA compared to muscle, suggesting preferential allocation to gonad structures. From January to March, Le Cren body condition index increased, associated to increasing reserve lipid storage. Additionally, gonad membrane showed an increasing DHA and a decreasing ARA contents. Altogether, these results suggest increasing lipid storage and investment for reproduction for both species and sexes. However, the gonado-somatic index of females remained stable between the two sampling periods, highlighting the importance to distinguish between the dynamics of gonadal biochemical composition and their morphological growth, two processes that may be decoupled depending on the maturation stage. Inter-specific differences were, however, observed: S. maderensis exhibited higher DHA and EPA concentrations in muscle reserves, and a higher ARA content in both reserves and membranes lipids compared to S. aurita, suggesting differential dietary LC-PUFA trophic regimes between species. Overall, our findings highlight the strong coupling between environmental conditions, dietary LC-PUFA availability and reproductive physiology in sardinellas. This emphasizes the critical role of LC-PUFA in supporting their reproductive success, and thus, to sustain the management and conservation of their populations in upwelling ecosystems.
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BibTeX
@article{vagner2026fatty,
title = {{Fatty acid allocation between muscle and gonads of Senegalese sardinellas under upwelling influence}},
author = {Marie Vagner and Mariama Cire Bah and Fabienne Le Grand and Margaux Mathieu-Resuge and Khady Diop and Oumar Sadio and Fulgence Diedhiou and Philippe Soudant and Laure Pecquerie and Fany Sardenne},
journal = {Aquatic Living Resources},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1051/alr/2026014},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05803555v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fatty acid allocation between muscle and gonads of Senegalese sardinellas under upwelling influence
AU - Marie Vagner
AU - Mariama Cire Bah
AU - Fabienne Le Grand
AU - Margaux Mathieu-Resuge
AU - Khady Diop
AU - Oumar Sadio
AU - Fulgence Diedhiou
AU - Philippe Soudant
AU - Laure Pecquerie
AU - Fany Sardenne
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Aquatic Living Resources
DO - 10.1051/alr/2026014
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05803555v1
AB - Sardinellas (Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis) are small pelagic fish that play a critical ecological and socio-economic role in West African coasts. These species primarily feed on plankton, a rich source of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (ARA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This study investigated the relationship between the muscle and gonad LC-PUFA profiles and the physiological status in both males and females at two periods of the upwelling season (January and March, 2022). Fatty acid profiles were measured in storage and membrane lipids to capture environmental and physiological variations, respectively. The ARA and DHA contents were largely enriched in membrane lipids as compared to reserve lipids. Within membrane lipids, gonads contained higher levels of LC-PUFA compared to muscle, suggesting preferential allocation to gonad structures. From January to March, Le Cren body condition index increased, associated to increasing reserve lipid storage. Additionally, gonad membrane showed an increasing DHA and a decreasing ARA contents. Altogether, these results suggest increasing lipid storage and investment for reproduction for both species and sexes. However, the gonado-somatic index of females remained stable between the two sampling periods, highlighting the importance to distinguish between the dynamics of gonadal biochemical composition and their morphological growth, two processes that may be decoupled depending on the maturation stage. Inter-specific differences were, however, observed: S. maderensis exhibited higher DHA and EPA concentrations in muscle reserves, and a higher ARA content in both reserves and membranes lipids compared to S. aurita, suggesting differential dietary LC-PUFA trophic regimes between species. Overall, our findings highlight the strong coupling between environmental conditions, dietary LC-PUFA availability and reproductive physiology in sardinellas. This emphasizes the critical role of LC-PUFA in supporting their reproductive success, and thus, to sustain the management and conservation of their populations in upwelling ecosystems.
SN - 0990-7440
SN - 1765-2952
ER -