Abstract: In this study, we investigated how starvation could affect the lipid metabolism of darkbarbel catfish (Pelteobagrus vachelli). Fish with initial weight of (23.652.82) g were selected for a 30-day fasting treatment and were sampled on the 0, 7th, 15th and 30th day during starvation. The results showed that starvation caused a significant decrease in the hepatosomatic index and intraperitoneal fat ratio (p0.05). The fat and protein content in muscles also dropped but insignificantly(p0.05). Plus, we observed lower saturation fatty acid (SFA) in the liver and mono unsaturation fatty acid (MUFA) in muscles during the starvation (p0.05). In the contrast, poly unsaturation fatty acid (PUFA) and MUFA in the liver and PUFA in muscles were significantly elevated (p0.05). Moreover, n-6 and n-3 PUFA in muscles and n-6 PUFA in the liver obviously increased too, whereas, n-3 PUFA in liver dropped (p0.05). These results suggested that during starvation, darkbarbel catfish could metabolise SFA and MUFA for energy supply but reserve PUFA. The real-time PCR results showed that compared to 0d fasting, 15d to 30d fasting might enhance the mRNA expression of LPL, HL and CAT in the liver (p0.05) and suppress the expression of FAS and L-FABP in the liver (p0.05). Our results suggested that starvation may induce lipoclasis and reduce the biosynthesis of lipid in the liver.