FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 74, NO. 2 



differences in the year-class strength and differ- 

 ences in actual abundance among different L. in- 

 quilinus populations. 



Possible Advantages of 

 the Association 



Liparis inquilinus probably is protected from 

 predation by its association with sea scallops. The 

 only known predators of larger sea scallops which 

 might also ingest L. inquilinus are Atlantic 

 wolfish, Anarhichas lupus, and Atlantic cod, 

 Gadus morhua (Bourne 1964). Wolfish and cod 

 only feed occasionally on scallops and they are 

 rare or only winter inhabitants of the Mid- 

 Atlantic Bight. Also, L. inquilinus is not as- 

 sociated with scallops during most of the winter. 



Individuals of L. inquilinus maximize the 

 period of protection by associating with sea scal- 

 lops for most of their demersal life. In the Mid- 

 Atlantic Bight, L. inquilinus remains associated 

 with sea scallops from the time they leave the 

 plankton until they begin to move inshore to 

 spawn. Also, individuals only leave sea scallops 

 to feed and then return as soon as they become 

 satiated. Nocturnal feeding may also decrease the 

 possibility of detection by predators. 



The relative number of scallops may not be a 

 limiting factor for survival of juvenile L. in- 

 quilinus. In every sample, at any time of the year 

 in which L. inquilinus have been taken with sea 

 scallops, some scallops were always empty. How- 

 ever, this assumes that all sea scallops will accept 

 fish. This remains to be proven. 



The symbiosis between L. inquilinus and P. 

 magellanicus should be referred to as a commen- 

 sal association. Such an association is one in 

 which the population of the commensal benefits 

 and the host is unaffected (Odum 1971). 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We acknowledge the assistance of the following 

 for loan of specimens in their care: James E. 

 Bohlke, Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia; Roland Wigley and Henry Jensen, 

 NMFS, Woods Hole; David Thomas and Tom 

 Tatham, Ichthyological Associates, Middletown, 

 Del.; James Hoff, Southeastern Massachusetts 

 University; and for larval material, W. G. Smith, 

 NMFS, Sandy Hook; Joanne Laroche, Ira C. Dar- 

 ling Center, Walpole, Maine; Herbert Perkins and 

 Stanley Chenoweth, NMFS, Boothbay Harbor, 



Maine; Thomas Morris, NMFS, Narragansett, 

 R.I. Many people at NMFS, Woods Hole, provided 

 aid and facilities for our research, especially 

 Marvin Grosslein and those who participated in 

 Albatross IV cruises 68-14 and 69-8. James Hoff 

 provided information onL. inquilinus in bay scal- 

 lops and Tom Tatham shared his notes on colora- 

 tion and development of L. inquilinus eggs col- 

 lected off New Jersey. We also express apprecia- 

 tion to the following personnel from the Virginia 

 Institute of Marine Science: Frank Perkins and 

 his assistants, especially Patricia Berry, for sec- 

 tioning and staining the pectoral fins; Juanita 

 Tutt and her assistants for supplying algal cul- 

 tures; Michael Castagna for supplying bay scal- 

 lops; and Charles Barans, Labbish Chao, John 

 McEachran, Sally Leonard, James Weaver, and 

 Charles Wenner for collecting Liparis on various 

 cruises. 



LITERATURE CITED 



ABLE, K. W. 



1973. A new cyclopterid fish, Liparis inquilinus, associated 

 with the sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, in the 

 western North Atlantic, with notes on the Liparis liparis 

 complex. Copeia 1973:787-794. 



1974. Life history, ecology and behavior of two new Liparis 

 (Pisces: Cyclop teridae) from the western North Atlan- 

 tic. Ph.D. Thesis, College of William and Mary, Wil- 

 liamsburg, 115 p. 



In press. A new cyclopterid fish from the western North 

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 ALEXANDER, R. M. 



1967. Functional design in fishes. Hutchinson, Lond., 

 160 p. 

 ANDRIYASHEV, A. P. 



1954. Fishes of the northern seas of the USSR. Akad. 

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 BARDACH, J. E., AND J. CASE. 



1965. Sensory capabilities of the modified fins of squirrel 

 hake (Urophycis chuss) and searobins (Prionotus 

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BEAN, T. H. 



1884. List of fishes collected by the U.S. Fish Commission 

 at Wood's Holl, Massachusetts, during the summer of 

 1881. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish Fish. 1882:339-344. 

 BIGELOW, H. B., AND W. C. SCHROEDER. 



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 BOURNE, N. 



1964. Scallops and the offshore fishery of the Maritimes. 

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 BREDER, C. M., JR, AND D. E. ROSEN. 



1966. Modes of reproduction in fishes. Nat. Hist. Press, 

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