Diverse feeding ecology and habitat use in coral reef fishes in the Malaysian South China Sea, as revealed by liver fatty acid composition

Fatty acid analysis was used to understand feeding ecology and habitat use of coral reef fishes in six families: Lutjanidae (Lutjanus lutjanus), Labridae (Thalassoma lunare), Nemipteridae (Scolopsis affinis, S. monogramma), Pomacentridae (Abudefduf bengalensis, A. sexfasciatus, A. viagiensis), Scaridae (Scarus quoyi, S. quoyi, S. rivulatus, S. ghobban) and Serrandae (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, Cephalopholis cyanostigma, C. boenak) collected on the Bidong Island of the Malaysian South China Sea. The percentage of saturated fatty acids (ΣSAFA) ranged from 58.0% to 62.5%, with the highest values in fatty acids, the second highest percentage values were those of monounsaturated fatty acids (ΣMUFA) and they ranged from 25.7% to 38.9%, and the percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (ΣPUFA) had the lowest values, i.e. from 2.7% to 13.2%. ΣMUFA and ΣPUFA were significantly different between families, while ΣSAFA did not differ. These results indicate diverse feeding ecology and habitat use during the fish life history in relation to physiological condition, sexual development, and recent feeding events in the coral reef habitats in the Malaysian South China Sea.