Skin component may protect fishes from ultraviolet-B radiation.
We observed a large peak of absorbance when methanol extracts of dorsal skin from four species of fish were scanned in a spectro-photometer. There appeared to be a direct relation between the amount of this skin component and the period of time in which each species of fish developed UVB-induced sunburn.
National Biological Service, Midwest Science Center, 4200 New Haven Road, 65201, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
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