Study on the sex-specific seasonality of fatty acid profiles in golden mahseer (Tor putitora) collected from a lacustrine ecosystem of Indian Himalaya

A sex-specific seasonal fatty acid profile study was conducted in sexually matured male and female golden mahseer (Tor putitora). For this study, five males and females were collected from Bhimtal lake, Uttarakhand, India, during summer, monsoon, pre-winter, and winter. Biochemical (proximate) and fatty acid compositions were analyzed in homogenized muscle samples. Among biochemical composition, only moisture and lipid contents were found to fluctuate, but inversely, with seasons in both the sexes. A substantial sex-specific change in major fatty acid classes, namely Sc-FAs, n-3 and n-6 PUFAs were found, explicitly driven by reproductive status, in the latter half of spawning season, i.e., in monsoon. This seasonality was more pronounced in females than males, in terms of diminishing Sc-FAs, n-6 and n-3 PUFAs. Both males and females appeared to be the best in fatty acids in winter followed by pre-winter. However, in sex-wise comparison in each season, males appeared to be the best compared to females in summer, better in monsoon, but both were equally good in pre-winter and winter.