SUMMARY—The course and rate of nucleotide degradation in muscle was determined on ice‐stored halibut of different sizes. The distribution of nucleotides and hypoxanthine was also determined. ATP dephosphorylation and AMP deamina‐tion proceeded very rapidly in halibut post‐mortem, but dephosphorylation of IMP was comparatively slow. Approximately 2.0μM IMP per gram was found in halibut stored on ice for 21 days; 0.5μM per g was found in some of the halibut after 41 days. The rate of IMP dephosphorylation and hypoxanthine accumulation varied between fish; size, however, did not correlate with these rates. Both nucleotides and hypoxanthine showed a fairly even distribution throughout halibut muscle. The work indicates that the determination of nucleotides and hypoxanthine can be used to estimate the storage time of halibut on ice, but reliability is poor during the first 21/2 weeks o
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