Studies of the pigments in the shrimp Crangon crangon (Crustacea: Malacostraca)

Abstract

The material examined consisted of adult specimens (male and female) of the shrimp Crangon crangon (L.) collected during the summer of 1967 from the Gdansk Bay of the Baltic Sea. Column and thin-layer chromatography was used for the separation of the carotenoids. The ester compounds and protein complexes of carotenoids were hydrolized with 15% KOH in methanol at room temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere for 48 h. The absorption maxima of the various fractions and spots were determined on the spectrophotometer “Specol” after eluation. The identification of the carotenoids was based mainly on the absorption maxima in appropriate organic solvents and on the Rt values. The acetone extract from the Crangon crangon specimens gave a light blue fluorescence and absorption maxima at wavelengths of 447, 463, 595 to 596 and 667 mμ. The following carotenoids were found to be present in the adult specimens of Crangon crangon: β-carotene, cantaxanthin, astaxanthin, free and esterified lutein, zeaxanthin, and a form of xanthophyll which was not precisely identified. In addition to the above, biliary dyes were also found, probably of the mesobiliviolin and mesobilirhodin type.