Date of Award
1962
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Biological Sciences
First Advisor
John S. Tucker
First Committee Member
Joel W. Hedgpeth
Second Committee Member
Ernest P. Edwards
Abstract
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 suggest a relationship to reproduction. Especially interesting in the appearance of the green pigment in the egg during maturation.
The investigation of any of the foregoing considerations requires convenient methods of analysis. One of the first steps of analysis in the discovery of an extracting solvent. It is the purpose of this paper to describe several experiments carried out to find extracting solvents for the removal of the green pigment from the eggs of Cryptochiton, as well as some preliminary investigation into the pigment’s nature. Also described are several experiments relating the studies upon the carotenoids found in the gonads of both sexes of Cryptochiton.
Pages
40
Recommended Citation
Senff, Robert Eugene. (1962). Studies on the gonadal pigments of Cryptochiton stelleri (Middendorff). University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/1507
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