In the Plymouth area there is often a marked and consistent difference in coloration of starfishes (Asterias rubens) from different populations. Starfish from populations to the south of Plymouth Breakwater are red-brown or occasionally pale yellow-brown in colour, whereas those from a population living well within Plymouth Sound have been found to be consistently bright red or brick red in colour (Vevers, 1949). In the present work analysis has been made of the integumentary carotenoids of dark red-brown A. rubens taken from the trawling grounds between Plymouth Breakwater and the Eddystone.