476 IX. CAROTENOIDS AND VITAMINS A 



(/) Comparative Distribution in Different Animals 



a. In Invertebrates. Goodwin^^- emphasized the widespread distribu- 

 tion of carotenoids throughout all groups of invertebrates and vertebrates. 

 In the case of the marine invertebrates, the carotenoids are of two types, 

 viz., (a) those derived (Hrectly from plants eaten as food, and (h) those 

 characteristic of the animal species, which are produced either by altering 

 the alimentary carotenoids or by de novo synthesis. Howe\^er, Goodwin i^- 

 is of the opinion that it is unlikely that carotenoids originate de novo in 

 the invertebrates. Several types of carotenoids have been identified in the 

 same organism. Thus, Goodwin alone*^^ and with Taha^^^ noted the pres- 

 ence of four carotenoids in the sex organs of the limpets (Patella vtUgata 

 and P. depressa, British Isles), namely /3-carotene, echinenone, cryptoxan- 

 thin, and zeaxanthin. Traces of a-carotene were also occasionally found. 

 The male gonads were found to be pink, due to carotenoids not attached to 

 protein. The green-brown color of the ovaries was attributed to an un- 

 identified pigment, "Y," attached to a protein.^^^ Astaxanthin, which is 

 3,3'-dihydroxy-4,4-diketo-j8-carotene, is widely distributed in the crusta- 

 ceans,-^* for example in the planktonic copepod (Calmius finmarchicus) .^^^ 



(a) Carotenoids in Protozoa. According to Fox,^^" carotenoids in certain 

 species of protozoa give rise to the conspicuous green, yellow, orange, and 

 red colors frequently observed in rain ponds, lakes, salt ponds, the sea, and 

 even in snow.'^^-^^^ As examples various authors cite the green euglena 

 (Mastigophora (Euglena) viridis) and the red euglena (ilf. sanguinea), 

 which are freshwater flagellate protozoa, and a sub-genus of the Euglenidae 

 a brown euglena (Trachelomonas spp.)^^^ and also the green and red varie- 

 ties of the brine flagellate protozoon (Dunaliella salinaY^^'^^'' found in salt 

 ponds; both the green and the red varieties contain considerable amounts 

 of jS-carotene. The red, freshwater flagellate protozoon [Haematococcus 

 pluvialisY^^-^^^ contains a carotene which colors rain water red. Chatton 

 and co-workers^"" observed that certain parasitic infusoria acquire the carot- 

 enoid pigments by consuming the eyes of Crustacea, such as the free-swim- 



"3 T. W. Goodwin, Biochem. J., 47, 249-251 (1950). 



39^ T. W. Goodw-in and M. M. Taha, Biochem. J., 47, 244-249 (1950). 



395 H. V. Euler, H. Hellstrom, and E. Klussmann, Z. physiol. Chem., 228, ll^m 

 (1934). 



396 H. F. Blum and D. L. Fox, Univ. Calif. (Berkeley), Pubis. Physiol, S, 21-30 

 (1933). 



3" D. L. Fox and M. C. Sargent, Chemistry & Industry, 16, {57), 1111 (1938). 



398 F. E. Fritsch, The Structure and Reproduction of the Algae, Cambridge Univ. Press, 

 London, 1935, Vol. I, pp. 32-35, 725-729. 



399 M. Lwoff and A. Lwoff, Compt. rend. soc. bioL, 105, 454-450 (1930). 



«» E. Chatton, A. Lwoff, and M. Parat, Compt. rend. soc. bioL, 94, 567-570 (1926). 



