High contents of trimethylamine oxide correlating with depth in deep-sea teleost fishes, skates, and decapod crustaceans

In muscles of shallow-living marine animals, the osmolyte trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is reportedly found (in millimoles of TMAO per kilogram of tissue wet weight) at 30-90 in shrimp, 5-50 in crabs, 61-181 in skates, and 10-70 in most teleost fish. Recently our laboratory reported higher levels (83-211 mmol/kg), correlating with habitat depth, in deep-sea gadiform teleosts. We now report the same trend in muscles of other animals, collected off the coast of Oregon from bathyal (1800-2000 m) and abyssal plain (2850 m) sites. TMAO contents (mmol/kg +/- SD) were as follows: zoarcid teleosts, 103 +/- 9 (bathyal) and 197 +/- 2 (abyssal); scorpaenid teleosts, 32 +/- 0 (shallow) and 141 +/- 16 (bathyal); rajid skates, 215 +/- 13 (bathyal) and 244 +/- 23 (abyssal); caridean shrimp, 76 +/- 16 (shallow), 203 +/- 35 (bathyal), and 299 +/- 28 (abyssal); Chionoecetes crabs, 22 +/- 2 (shallow) and 164 +/- 15 (bathyal). Deep squid, clams, and anemones also had higher contents than shallow species. Osmoconformers showed compensation between TMAO and other osmolytes. Urea contents (typically 300 mmol/kg in shallow elasmobranchs) in skates were 214 +/- 5 (bathyal) and 136 +/- 9 (abyssal). Glycine contents in shrimp were 188 +/- 17 (shallow) and 52 +/- 20 (abyssal). High TMAO contents may reflect diet, reduce osmoregulatory costs, increase buoyancy, or counteract destabilization of proteins by pressure.