accessory pigment any of the pigments, such as the yellow, red, or purple carotenoids and the red or blue phycobiliproteins in photosynthetic cells. The carotenoids are always present, whereas the phycobiliproteins occur only in algae belonging to the Rhodophyceae, the Cyanophyceae, and the Cryptophyceae. Strictly speaking, chlorophyll b is also an accessory pigment.
