A new,unexpected marine source of a molting hormone. Isolation of ecdysterone in large amounts from the zoanthidGerardia savaglia

Summary Ecdysterone was found in large amounts in the Mediterranean zoanthidGerardia savaglia both immediately after its collection and after it had been kept for 15 months in an aquarium. This is the first time that an ecdysteroid has been found in a marine animal which does not belong to the phylum Arthropoda.Acknowledgments. We are grateful to Dr E. Volpi, Trento, for collecting, and keeping alive, the zoanthid, and to Prof. L. Rossi, Torino, both for the identification and for useful comments, and to Prof. L. Colombo, Padova, for stimulating discussions. This work was funded by the Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Assessorato Agricoltura e Foreste, within our program for biological control of phytopathogenic fungi, by C.N.R., Roma, and by M.P.I., through the Centro Interuniversitario di Biologia Marina in Livorno.Laboratorio di Chimica.Stazione Sperimentale Agraria.To whom reprint requests should be addressed.