Biochemical composition during growth and starvation of early larval stages of cultured spiny lobster ( Jasus edwardsii) phyllosoma

We examined biochemical changes accompanying feeding and starvation from hatch to Stage VI (day 74 after hatch) in spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii, phyllosoma larvae. Larval dry weights (dw) increased 17-fold from hatch (80±1 μg) to Stage VI (1415±44 μg). Larvae starved for 6–11 days at Stages II, IV and VI were 14–40% lighter than their fed counterparts fed enriched Artemia. The increases and losses in total dry weight during feeding and starvation were associated with changes in the content of protein (constituting 31.4–41.7% of dw) and carbohydrate (constituting 2.6–5.3% of dw), while larger changes in lipid content indicated its greater importance as an energy substrate. Lipid content increased from 7.9% of dw at hatch to its highest of 12.5% at Stage IV, but declined by 50% or more during starvation. This suggests that protein, carbohydrate and lipid are all important energy stores, although lipids are catabolized at a greater rate during food deprivation. The principal lipid class was polar lipid (PL; 79–92% of total lipid), followed by sterol (ST; 6–20%), with triacylglycerol and other lipid classes at