Deciphering the Stock Structure of White Sardine Escualosa thoracata (Valenciennes, 1847) along the Indian Waters by using Chemometric Analysis of Natural Signature Fatty Acid Profile

Background: Small pelagic species like white sardine gained importance due to their high demand in local markets over years has become important to sustainably harvest the available resources. Thus, the current study was aimed to decipher the stock structure studies based on chemometric analysis of natural signature fatty acid profile which plays an important role in stock identification to the formulation of better sustainable management plans and its conservation. Methods: Samples of Escualosa thoracata were collected from four locations each from two on the east coast (Chennai and Kolkata) and west coast (Mumbai and Kochi) of the Indian peninsula 2019-2020. Heart tissue from the specimen from each location was collected, preserved and fatty acid profiling was performed. The analysis comprised methanolysis, gas chromatography and multivariate statistics. Result: The profile showed a difference between southern and northern populations on both the coast. The trend was more obvious in SAFAs and PUFAs; SAFAs were high content in the southern populations and PUFAs were high content in the northern populations. The separation can be attributed to the latitudinal effects on the deposition of fatty acids.