1. The mullet and stockfish roes were shown to contain oil rich in wax.
2. The acetone-soluble oil was fractionated into hydrocarbon, wax, glyceride and polar substance fractions by column and thin-layer chromatography, and alcohol and fatty acid constituents of wax and glyceride fractions analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography.
3. The main constituents present in the mullet roe oil were cetyl alcohol, hexadecenol and hexadecenoic and oleic acids in wax and palmitic, hexadecenoic and oleic acids in glyceride. In the stockfish roe they were cetyl and stearyl alcohols and oleic acid in wax and oleic and palmitic acids in glyceride, respectively.
4. Both alcohols and fatty acids with odd-numbered carbon atoms were found to be richer in these roe oils than in marine oils so far analyzed.