Chemical and behavioral studies of the sex attractant of the lobster(Homarus americanus)

Abstract

Male lobsters satiated with food were attracted from a distance by urine and tank water from molted female lobsters, indicating presence of a pheromone. Tank water remained active after simple treatments, such as boiling, freezing, cold storage, drying and reconstitution. No activity was found in chemical fractions obtained by us of urine and tank water, except for partial activity in certain recombined fractions and in the urine residue indicating the pheromone may be of a multi‐component nature. The activity of tank water was antagonized by addition of extracts of freeze‐dried cod and molted female lobster but not by proline or betaine. No activity was demonstrated in simple extracts of several tissues from molted females or in pure compounds found to be prominent in lobster tissue. Benzene and ethanol solubles and residue fractions from homogenates of whole female lobsters were inactive. Similar fractions from ovary of molted females were inactive except that the residue was partially active. Further fractionation by chromatography indicated partial activity in the residues from the whole molted female and from the ovary. It is difficult to assess whether nil responses indicate absence of active material or the simultaneous presence of antagonistic materials. The partial activity found in the residues from the whole lobster and the ovary indicated the pheromone may originate in the ovary.