Carotenoids in the Gonads of the Bivalved Mollusk Anadara kagoshimensis (Tokunaga, 1906)

We report here the outcomes of studies on the total carotenoid composition in tissues of sexually mature and immature bivalves A. kagoshimensis. Gonadal maturation was found to be accompanied by a redistribution of total carotenoids across the body. In the prespawn period, a highest level of total carotenoids (TC) was detected in the gonads (3.97 ± 1.25 mg/100 g wet weight), however, allowing for mass-dimensional tissues characteristics, the molluscan foot still accounted for a major portion of TC (26 ± 3.9%). The spectra and concentrations of gonadal and total nongonadal carotenoids were analyzed. In all molluscan tissues, the dominant carotenoid fractions were those of pectenolon and alloxanthin, with the latter being quantitatively inferior to pectenolon in generative tissue.