Using radioimmunoassay (RIA) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the presence of a complex mixture of free and conjugated ecdysteroids is reported in the embryonated eggs of a mole crab, Emerita asiatica. From an initial low value of 6.5 ng/g egg wet weight in stage I, the total ecdysteroids increased in concentration to 15-2 ng/g egg wet weight in stage III. This was followed by a sharp fall in stage IV, but again increased to 15.0 ng/g egg wet weight in stage VI. After a

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... decline in stage VII, the total ecdysteroids registered the highest value of 36.2 ng/g egg wet weight in stage VIII. This value, however, declined to a low level in the prehatching stage (IX). The concentration of the free ecdysteroids always predominated over the conjugated ones. The HPLC analysis of free ecdysteroids demonstrated the presence of 20-hydroxyecdysone and ecdysone in the ratio of 2-5. Purified lipovitellin II also contained free and conjugated ecdysteroids. The functional significance of the embryonic ecdysteroids as well as their nature of synthesis and storage within the eggs is discussed in the light of the information available on insect embryogenesis. 1982; Lachaise and Hoffmann 1982; Okazaki and Chang 1991) and shrimps (Spindler et al 1987; Wilder et al 1990; Chang 1993) , as also in several insect species