ABLE and MUSICK: LIFE HISTORY AND BEHAVIOR OF LIPARIS INQUILINUS 



Table 4. — Comparison of the possible parameters affecting 7 



Liparis inquilinus abundance in sea scallops over a wide geo- 

 graphic area. Given as mean followed by range in parentheses. 



Item 



Northern and 



northeastern 



Georges Bank 



Southern 

 Georges Bank 



Near Hudson 

 Canyon 



50 55 60 65 



DEPTH (METERS) 



Figure ll. — Plot of mean number of fish per scallop versus 

 water depth from daytime collections of 14-17 September 

 1968 near Hudson Canyon. 



number of scallops per station for each area was 

 not related to increased abundance of fish in scal- 

 lops (Table 4). Clapper shell abundance, regard- 

 less of species, was originally hypothesized to be 

 important in L. inquilinus survival and abun- 

 dance since L. inquilinus readily occupied shells 

 in the laboratory, and this habit may offer protec- 

 tion from predators. A plot of this possible rela- 

 tionship did not suggest a correlation (Figure 13). 

 The similarity of abundance estimates for south- 

 ern Georges Bank and the area near Hudson 

 Canyon could be attributed to a similarity in bot- 

 tom types. Both of these areas have smooth bot- 

 toms and are quite different from the rough topog- 

 raphy of northern Georges Bank (Uchupi 1968). 

 Fish living on smooth bottom would have less 

 chance of concealment and evasion of predators, 



'^ p. 



5- 



< 

 o 



CO 

 LU 



a. 



^ 4 



CE 



UJ 

 CD 



< 



UJ 



3- 



— r- 

 6 



— r- 

 7 



— I— 

 8 



— I— 

 9 



To 



BOTTOM TEMPERATURE (°C) 



Figure 12. — Plot of mean number of fish per scallop versus 

 bottom temperature from daytime collections of 14-17 Septem- 

 ber 1968 near Hudson Cemyon. 



a. 

 o 



6- 



UJ 



a. 



I 

 CO 4 



O 

 cr 



UJ 

 CD 



3 



3- 



2- 



I- 



-I 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' 



I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 



BUSHELS OF SHELLS PER DREDGE CATCH 



Figure 13. — Plot of mean number of fish per scallop from 

 daytime collections versus clapper shell abundance from 

 collections of 14-17 September 1968 near Hudson Canyon. 



which would place a greater selective advantage 

 on association with scallops. The simplest expla- 

 nations for observed differences in abundance are 



419 



