Carotenoids in Niphargus casimiriensis Skalski (Amphipoda) from artesian wells

Carotenoids are some of the commonest pigments found in nature. They are produced only by plants, both autotrophic and heterotrophic, whereas animals obtain them through the food they eat. These pigments may, however, in the latter undergo further conversion as a result, for example, of oxidation. Various functions have been ascribed to carotenoids ranging from their participation in the photosynthetic process in plants to a role played by these pigments in protecting fruit and invertebrate animals, plankton crustaceans in particular, from the effect and photooxidation of light rays. With the latter function in view, we were interested in the question as to whether carotenoids were present in crustaceans inhabiting subterranean waters where, naturally, the light factor does not play the important role it plays in water exposed to light. In order to study the problem, the carotenoid content of Niphargus casimiriensis Skalski, a species which is to be found in Poland in the artesian wells of Lower Kazimierz on Vistula, was investigated (Skalski, 1976).