Melatonin does not affect the black pigment migration in the crab neohelice granulata

Abstract

N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine or melatonin is a multifunctional molecule. The main physiological function, at least in vertebrates, is to transduce to the animal the photoperiodic information and regulate rhythmic parameters. But studies have also observed the action of this molecule on pigment migration in ectothermic vertebrates. Thus the aim of this paper was to investigate in vivo and in vitro the influence of melatonin on the pigment migration in melanophores of the crab Neohelice granulata. Injections of melatonin (2 × 10−9 moles · crab−1) at 07:00 h or 19:00 h did not affect (p > 0.05) the circadian pigment migration of the melanophores in constant darkness. Additionally no significant pigment migration (p > 0.05) was verified in normal and eyestalkless crabs injected with melatonin (10−10-10−7 moles · crab−1) during the day or night. In the in vitro assay, the response of melanophores to the pigment-dispersing hormone in eyestalkless crabs injected with melatonin (2 × 10−9 moles · crab−1) 1 and 12 hours before the observations did not differ (p > 0.05) from the control group (injected with physiological solution). These results suggest that melatonin does not act as a signaling factor for pigment dispersion or aggregation in the melanophores of N. granulata.