The Composition And Toxicity Of Wax In The Flesh Of Castor Oil Fishes

Abstract

1. The flesh of Lepidocybium flauobrunneum and Ruvettus pretiosus has been analyzed,a nd were both found to containa pproximately2 0% of oilc onsistinpgr imarily of wax. 2. The flesha nd acetone-solubloei lo f both speciesp roduce seborrhea besides diarrheai n rats,a nd are judged not suitablef or food. 3. The acetone-solubloeil has been fractionatedi nto the hydrocarbon, wax, glyceridea nd polar substance fractionsb y column and thin-layecr hromatography, and alcohola nd fatty acid constituentosf wax and glyceridef ractionsa nalyzed by gas-liquicdh romatography. 4. The main constituentps resent are: cetyla lcohol, oleayllc ohola nd oleica cid in wax and oleica nd eicosenoiac cids in glyceride. 5. Hydroxy oleica cid is not recognized,d ifferingf rom the observationo f Cox and REID on the oil of R. pretiosus. The authors express here their sincere thanks to Mr. K. KUDAKA in the Fisheries Institute of Okinawa for his kindness in obtaining test samples and to Dr. T. OKAICHI and Mr. T. WATANABE for their technical assistance. © 1966, The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. All rights reserved.