Marine Biology Commons^™

Studies On The Gonadal Pigments Of Cryptochiton Stelleri (Middendorff), Robert Eugene Senff

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The large gumboot chiton, Cryptochiton stelleri, (Middendorf, 1846) annually undergoes a reproductive cycle terminated by spawning in the spring. Cryptochiton stelleri is one of the marine invertebrates which possess carotenoid prognosis. Cryptochiton acquired its carotenoid moiety from the algae upon which it feeds. Following digestion carotenoids are transported to various sites in the body. The mechanisms and routes of this transport, as well as the eventual fate of the carotenoids in nutrition, are unknown. Perhaps storage in the animal occurs because of an inability to eliminate the carotenoids. On the other hand, the presence of carotenoids in the gonads would …