Abstract
Nudibranch molluscs occur in marine ecosystems worldwide and prey on numerous invertebrate species. During feeding, dietary fatty acids (FAs) unusual for nudibranchs are transferred to their lipids. Normal biomembrane functions require stable composition of structural polar lipids (PL), but the pathways of dietary FA utilization to PL in nudibranchs still remain unknown. A combination of chromatography and tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry was used to determine total lipid, PL, FA, and PL molecular species composition of two cold-water species of Dendronotus, which then were compared with those of Tritonia tetraquetra. The use of FA trophic markers showed that Dendronotus sp. and T. tetraquetra prey on different soft corals, while D. robustus may consumes hydrocorals and bryozoans. Nudibranch FA profiles were strongly modified by dietary FAs but their PL profilers were similar. Dietary FAs are not included in ceramide aminoethylphosphonate and inositol glycerophospholipids, but directed to ethanolamine, choline, and serine glycerophospholipids and, in some cases, form isobaric molecular species with different FA chain lengths. For such isobaric species, nudibranchs reduce the length of alkyl groups when very-long-chain FAs are obtained with diet. This molecular mechanism may explain the adaptation of nudibranch membrane structure to dietary input of unusual FAs.