Phospholipids, especially phosphatidylcholine (PC), are considered essential nutrients for larval and juvenile stages of many decapod crustacean species due to low rates of endogenous biosynthesis and potential nutritional benefits in assisting lipid digestion and transport. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that dietary PC is essential and would subsequently have beneficial effects on lipid utilisation and digestibility of fish oil triacylglycerol (TAG) in the slipper lobster, Thenus australiensis. Juvenile slipper lobsters were supplied six formulated experimental feeds with actual PC contents of 0.05, 0.48, 0.65, 0.98, 1.15 and 1.43% (dry matter) for 12 weeks. Manipulating dietary PC content had no effects on survival, growth, chemical composition, whole body or tissue lipid distribution, or apparent digestibility (AD) of gross energy (GE), total lipid (TL) or PC. Juvenile slipper lobsters appeared to possess fully developed and efficient mechanisms for GE, TAG and PC digestion (>95% AD). In vivo lipid class mass balance calculations demonstrated net intake of TL and TAG was considerably greater than was accumulated in the whole-body during growth. Thus, a significant proportion of dietary TL and TAG was utilised for energy and other metabolic processes. In contrast, particularly for low PL dietary treatments (≤ 0.5%), net gain of PC was greater than net intake, indicating a reliance on biosynthesis of PC. Thus, it is concluded that there is no or a very low requirement for dietary PC and thus may not be essential for the examined size class of juvenile T. australiensis when supplied adequate dietary PC biosynthetic precursors and other potentially related dietary nutrients. Further targeted research is recommended to verify if these findings are applicable to larval and early juvenile stages, and to enhance overall understanding of lipid nutritional requirements for T. australiensis.

磷脂，尤其是磷脂酰胆碱（PC），由于许多内生甲壳类动物的幼体和幼体阶段的内源性生物合成速率低，并且在帮助脂质消化和运输方面具有潜在的营养益处，被认为是必需营养素。进行这项研究是为了检验以下假设：日粮PC是必不可少的，随后将对拖鞋龙虾Theus australiensis中的鱼油三酰甘油（TAG）的脂质利用和消化率产生有益的影响。。向少年拖鞋龙虾提供六种配方实验饲料，其实际PC含量分别为0.05、0.48、0.65、0.98、1.15和1.43％（干物质），持续12周。调节饮食中PC的含量不会影响存活率，生长，化学成分，全身或组织脂质分布或总能量（GE），总脂质（TL）或PC的表观消化率（AD）。少年拖鞋龙虾似乎具有完全发达且有效的GE，TAG和PC消化机制（公元> 95％）。体内脂质类物质平衡的计算表明，TL和TAG的净摄入量明显大于生长期间整个体内的累积摄入量。因此，饮食中大量的TL和TAG被用于能量和其他代谢过程。相反，特别是对于低PL饮食治疗（≤0.5％），PC的净增幅大于净摄入量，表明依赖PC的生物合成。因此，可以得出结论，对饮食中的PC的需求不高或非常低，因此对于所研究的少年T. australiensis大小等级可能不是必不可少的。当提供足够的膳食PC生物合成前体和其他可能相关的膳食营养素时。建议进行进一步的有针对性的研究，以验证这些发现是否适用于幼体和少年早期阶段，并增强对澳洲锥虫的脂质营养需求的全面了解。