Response of lipid-related composition of farmed tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes) to starvation under different dietary lipid levels in the previous feeding period

Starvation is a natural process in the life cycle of wild fish, and also a means of body composition regulation for farmed fish. This study with tiger puffer was aimed at investigating the effects of starvation on lipid and fatty acid compositions in fish with different levels of lipid accumulation. Different lipid accumulation levels in tiger puffer were obtained by manipulating the dietary lipid content (8%, 12%, and 16%) in a previous feeding period for 9 weeks. Each diet was fed to sextuplicate net cages in this feeding trial. At the end of the feeding trial, fish with an average initial body weight of 68.26 g were then subjected to starvation for 31 days. Tissue samples were collected at the end of the feeding trial and at 1, 4, 9, 16, and 31 days after starvation. The results showed that the muscle lipid content decreased linearly with starvation time, but the liver lipid content increased firstly (1–16 days of starvation), and thereafter sharply declined. However, no interaction between starvation time and dietary lipid level was observed in the effects on liver and muscle lipid composition. Starvation had slight effects on muscle and liver fatty acid compositions, except that it largely increased the C22:5n-3 content in the muscle. Starvation primarily mobilized C14:0, C16:1n-7, C20:1n-9 and C22:1n-9 in the muscle, and C18:0, C18:1n-9, and EPA in the liver. Interactive effects between starvation time and dietary lipid level were observed for many fatty acids. Short-term (1–4 days) starvation increased the muscle texture parameters, but longer-term starvation decreased them. In conclusion, starvation exerts significant effects on lipid and fatty acid composition in farmed tiger puffer. Customed lipid and fatty acid composition, and possibly customed fillet quality could be obtained through manipulation of starvation time and dietary lipid level in the previous feeding period.