Identification and quantification of carotenoid pigments during the embryonic development of the freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium olfersii (Crustacea, Decapoda)

The principal carotenoids present during the 16-day embryonic development period and in the first post-embryonic stage (zoea I) were identified and quantified in the diadromous, neotropical, freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium olfersii, employing differential extraction, absorption spectra analysis and thin layer chromatography. The characteristic crustacean pigments alpha- and beta -carotene and astaxanthin, and a mixture of four unidentified yellow pigments were found. Total carotenoids increase significantly at the mid-point of embryogenesis (day 8), declining to a minimum in the recently hatched first zoea. This decrease appears to reflect the establishment of carotenoid catabolism, or of carotenoid use in protein and membrane formation and stabilization towards the end of embryogenesis, as well as the depletion of yolk protein reserves by the non-feeding first zoea.