Abstract:
The stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen are important in evaluating feeding ecology and migration of organisms. Muscle tissues are commonly used as analytical samples, but lipids in muscles with low
δ13C values can affect the stable isotopes analysis. To understand the effect of lipid removal on carbon and nitrogen stables isotopes in
Sthenoeuthis oualaniensis muscle samples, we analyzed the stable isotopes of
S.oualaniensis captured in the South China Sea in April, 2017. In addition, we compared different lipid removal models to get the best fitted model to revise
δ13C values in
S.oualaniensis muscles. The results show that after lipid removal, both
δ13C and
δ15N values changed significantly (
P<0.01), increasing by 0.85‰ and 0.71‰, respectively. The lipid removal of
δ13C values in
S.oualaniensis muscles did not change with size and sex (
P>0.05). Besides, Model 3 had the lowest Akaike information criterion value (AIC), indicating that it is the best fitted model for revising
δ13C values. The results reveal that lipid removal is necessary in analyzing
δ13C values in
S.oualaniensis muscles, but
δ15N values are affected when lipids are removed, so lipid removal is unnessary in
δ15N values analysis.