Abstract
The author investigated the presence of various carotcnoids in some phytobenthos species (20 species representative of <em>Chlorophytn, Phaeophyta</em> and <em>Rhodophyta</em>) from the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The presence of following carotenoids has been determined 1) in <em>Chlorophyta</em> lycopene, α-, β-, γ- , ε-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lutein epoxide, zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin, neoxanthin, violaxanthin, siphonein and astaxanthin esier; 2) in <em>Phorophyta</em>: α-, β-, γ- , ε- carotene, zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin, diataxanthin, fucoxanthin, fucoxanthol, neoxanthin, violaxanthin and rhodoxanthin-like: 3) in <em>Rhodophyta</em> α-, β-, γ-carotene,α-, β-,cryptoxanthin, lutein lutein epoxide, zeaxanthin, anthcraxanthin, mutatoxanthin, fucoxanthin neoxanthin and violaxanthin The total carotenoid content ranged from 1.197 ( <em>Cystoseira corniculata</em>) to 16 748 mg g<sup>-1</sup> dry weight (<em>Chaetomorpha aerea</em>).