Aplysia cdifofnica---Ww'KLER 
361 
However, these other algae can not be the 
only source as the writer has kept small A. 
californka until they have approximately tri- 
pled in size while feeding them on parsley and 
celery tops, which contain none of the phy- 
cobilins, and he has found that they could 
still produce the purple secretion, though in 
reduced quantity. 
Lederer and Huttrer (1942) followed cur- 
rent practice in naming the two components 
which they isolated from the purple of A, 
punctata. To the redder of the two compo- 
nents, which is the "urobilin” of Schreiber 
(1932), they gave the name aplysiorhodin; and 
to the bluer component, or the "urobilino- 
gen” of Schreiber, they gave the name of 
aplysmviolin. For convenience of identification 
the writer gives the name aplysioazurin to the 
additional blue component he has isolated 
from the secretions of A. californka. 
Spectrophotometrically, this new bluem co- 
ponent is responsible for the sharp rise in 
absorption below 425-450 m/x, as noted in 
all spectral curves produced by solutions from 
which it had not been removed. The rise was 
absent from the spectra of the other two com- 
ponents in the paper separations (Fig. 3). 
Actually, in view of Schreiber’s work (1932) 
aplysioviolin would be the precursor of aply- 
siorhodin. It is not yet evident what the role 
of aplysioazurin may be. 
SUMMARY 
From the foregoing discussion of aplysia 
purple the writer proposes: (1) that there are 
two apparent absorption peaks in the spec- 
trum of aplysia purple from Aplysia californka 
when hydrochloric acid is used as the solvent; 
(2) that the relative height of these two peaks 
indicates the proportion of precursor to fin- 
ished product in the purple from an individual 
specimen; (3) that the gross color varies 
widely from animal to animal; (4) that col- 
umn chromatography as used here is superior 
for large scale separations but poor for quali- 
tative separation; (5) that paper chromatog- 
raphy is more sensitive and is superior for 
quick qualitative isolation of components 
into individual zones; and (6) that the purple 
of A. californka contains a third component, 
aplysioazurin, in addition to the major com- 
ponents, aplysiorhodin and aplysioviolin. 
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