PRODUCTION OF BLUE PIGMENT PEAKS IN LATE SUMMER

Production of Sandercyanin is seasonal and peaks in late summer. The graph plots absorbance of Sandercyan by date and indicates peak production in late summer all three years. The photo shows jars of slime from individual walleye captured in both March and August indicating greater production of blue pigment in August.

ANATOMY OF BLUE PIGMENT PRODUCTION

Blue pigment (Sandercyanin) is produced in membrane-bounded vesicles (440x) just posterior (toward tail) to each dorsal spine and next to an adjacent blood vessel.