Characterization of a sex pheromone in the blue crab,Callinectes sapidus: Crustecdysone studies

The molting hormone/sex pheromone hypothesis of Kittredge and Takahashi (1972) and Kittredge et al. (1971) was explored inC. sapidus. Two concentrations of crustecdysone (5 × 10(-5) M and 5 × 10(-6) M) were presented to male crabs in a bioassay system in which courtship behavior was monitored. The results demonstrate that crustecdysone does not stimulate courtship in this species. The physical properties of crustecdysone were also compared to those of the partially purified sex pheromone derived from pubescent females. Using HPLC and mass spectral analysis, no correspondence of crustecdysone with the bioactive material could be shown. These results, in conjunction with the findings of others, do not support an evolutionary relationship between the molting hormone and sex pheromone communication in the Crustacea.