The Carotenoids of the Medaka, Oryzias latipes, a Teleost

The skin carotenoid of orange red color variety of Oryzias was analyzed chromatographycally and spectroscopically. The carotenoids consisted of ten different members: β-carotene, tunaxanthin, lutein and seven unidentified carotenoids. Tunaxanthin occupied about 40 per cent of the total, and an unidentified Carotenoid M-V similar to tunaxanthin amounted to about the same. Lutein was found to be about 4 per cent of the total. From these findings Oryzias seems to be a fish of marine type rather than a freshwater fish so far as the carotenoid components are concerned. Most of the xanthophylls was found to occur in esterified form except that lutein and Carotenoid M-VI were found in both free and esterified forms.