Impaired Pigmentation in Chinook Salmon Fed Diets Deficient in Essential Fatty Acids

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Abstract
A marked depigmentation was observed in the skin of chinook salmon fry fed a fat-free diet since hatching. A similar depigmentation was observed when triolein or linolenic acid was included in the diet, but depigmentation was largely prevented by the inclusion of trilinolein. Depigmentation became apparent after 16 weeks of feeding and reached a maximum in about 24 weeks. General repigmentation occurred during a recovery experiment and appeared to be more pronounced and more rapid in subgroups fed a diet containing 3% of trilinolein than in the subgroups continued with their original diet. Histochemical tests suggest that the depigmentation process involves melanin. Trilinolein or linolenic acid, or both, elicited a positive growth response in chinook salmon fry when substituted isocalorically for sucrose in a fat-free ration, but triolein did not.

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