ABSTRACT
Apart from the possible photochemical significance of carotenoids, their abundance in the reproductive system and eggs of Crustacea has led many researchers to assume a more direct role for the compounds in reproduction/embryonic development. This chapter examines the available evidence suggesting such a relationship in Artemia and other Crustacea. Crustacea lack the ability to biosynthesize carotenoids de novo, but efficiently absorb the pigments from the diet. They may be deposited unaltered in the tissues or they may be metabolically transformed to keto- and hydroxy derivatives. Various investigators believe that the accumulation of carotenoids in Crustacea is purely fortuitous, that the pigment is merely a waste product and hence serves no function. An investigation into the fate of carotenoids in Crustacea, including freshwater Anostraca, has revealed that the pigments most likely serve no metabolic function during development but rather exert a structural/protective role in the eggs or provide some adaptive advantages to the young nauplii, e.g., in terms of protective pigmentation.
