AbstractDiets supplemented with astaxanthin and canthaxanthin, respectively, and a control diet without carotenoid additions, were fed to 1½‐year‐old Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, L.) for one year. The integuments were investigated as to their quantitative and qualitative carotenoid composition. Astaxanthin and canthaxanthin deposited in the skin amounted to 20 and 14% of the total carotenoids only. Seventy % must be considered as metabolites of astaxanthin and canthaxanthin and 10% as basic xanthophylls also present in the control groups. Astaxanthin apparently underwent the following metabolic pathway: astaxanthin→idoxanthin→adonixanthin→zeaxanthin→zeaxanthin 5,6‐epoxides. Reduction of the 4′‐carbonyl group was stereospecific leading to the (4′R)‐idoxanthin. Canthaxanthin was obviously converted to β,β‐carotene via 4′‐hydroxyechinenone, echineno