Total lipid and cholesterol contents of liver and muscle in some fish species, especially vendace (Coregonus albula L.) in Finland

The total lipid and cholesterol contents of the liver and muscle tissue of vendace (Coregonus albula), whitefish (Coregonus sp.), smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) and Baltic herring (Clupea harengus) were measured from brackish and fresh water in Finland. The contents of the vendace tissues were generally at their highest in July after the peak of length growth. At the same time, thyroid activity was low making the lipid accumulation possible. There were some inter-water differences in lipid content, but differences were not clear between fresh and brackish water. Among the species, the total lipid and cholesterol contents of herring were the highest. In the Gulf of Bothnia (Baltic Sea) herring, the total lipid content of the liver was higher than farther south in the Archipelago Sea supporting an earlier histological finding that the thyroid of Gulf of Bothnia herring is functionally hypothyreotic (causing lipid accumulation).