The fatty acid composition of phospholipids of Azov anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus maeoticus Pusanov and Black Sea anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus ponticus Alexandrov during the fishing seasons of 2006-2011

Total lipid, triacylglycerol and phospholipid (TL, TAG and PL, correspondingly) content and the content of fatty acids (FA) in PL of the Azov anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus maeoticus Pusanov and the Black Sea anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus ponticus Alexandrov were measured by standard methods including thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography. The Azov anchovy specimens were taken from the commercial catches trawled in the Kerch Strait (the Azov Sea) in late October 2006, 2008-2011, and the Black Sea anchovy -- from the November hauls off the Turkish coast (the southern Black Sea) in 2007-2010. Depending on the year, TL measured in the Azov and Black Sea anchovy varied from 15.10 to 18.63 % and from 12.98 to 15.24 % fresh weight, respectively. PL estimates, unlike TL and TAG, did not reliably differ during the research period, making 1.3 % on average for both subspecies. FA composition of the PL was conspicuously different: monounsaturated FA content of PL in the Azov anchovy was estimated 25.56 % of the total FA content, mainly due to oleic acid (18:1), which was 40-50 % greater than in the Black Sea anchovy. Conversely, the Azov subspecies was second to the Black Sea one by the total value of polyunsaturated FA: 34.45 and 44.73 %, correspondingly. Estimated in the hauls from the Azov Sea and from the Black Sea, docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n3), which dominated among the polyunsaturated FA, was evaluated 14.42 % and 24.45 % of the total FA content, correspondingly. Early ontogeny and the annual life cycle in the seas, having different salinity, can be the factors, accounting for different n3 to n6 FA ratios, characteristic of the Azov and Black Sea anchovy (4.19 and 5.98, correspondingly). It was observed that the special FA composition of PL, inherent to each of the tested subspecies and the obtained distinctions between them, have persisted for several years. Thus, these indices can be used as an indicator allowing to identify wintering of the Azov and Black Sea anchovy during the fishing season.