The total ascorbic acid content and its variation with seasonal and nutritional factors in some common cirripedes

An investigation has been made of the ascorbic acid content, its seasonal changes, and the effect of starvation in several cirripedes. In Balanus balanoides (L.) and B. balanus (L.) there is an abrupt fall in ascorbic acid content which coincides with copulation. After fertilization values are low until the animals begin feeding again in March–April. Seasonal changes are not so clearly marked in Chthamalus spp.

60% of the ascorbic acid of Balanus balanoides is lost in the first month of starvation after which the rate of loss is reduced. In spite of different lengths of time for embryonic development 77% of the original ascorbic acid content of the eggs is lost in both B. balanoides and B. balanus.

Ascorbic acid has been demonstrated histologically in bodies of B. balanoides. Experiments with homogenates of isolated bodies, using additions of substrates and co-factors known to be required for in vitro synthesis, suggest very strongly that the tissues are incapable of synthesizing ascorbic acid unless at a very low level. Addition of the microsomal enzymes from a rabbit liver preparation to an homogenate with substrate and co-factors gave ascorbic acid synthesis. This suggests a “lesion” analogous to that found in other organisms known to be incapable of synthesizing ascorbic acid.