ABLE and MUSICK: LIFE HISTORY AND BEHAVIOR OF LIPARIS INQUILINUS 



Table l. — Collections of larval Liparis inquilinus from plankton sampling cruises. Mean followed by range in parentheses. 



Item 



Dolphin 66-3 



Dolphin 66-5 



Dolphin 66-7 



Albatross IV 69-5 



Albatross IV 72-3 



LEGEND 

 • ALBATROSS IS. 72-3 

 O ALBATROSS IE 69-5 



y\ 



Figure 3. — Locations of collections of larval Liparis inquili- 

 nus from Albatross TV cruises 69-5 and 72-3. 



Neoliparis (Liparis) atlanticus from sea scallops 

 as early as July in the Bay of Fundy off Digby, 

 Nova Scotia. Specimens we have from sea scal- 

 lops in that area are allL. inquilinus . JuvenileL. 

 inquilinus have also been collected from scallops 

 from Georges Bank in July and may be present in 

 sea scallops during July in the Mid-Atlantic 

 Bight as well. The fish found in the scallops dur- 

 ing August (Figure 1) corresponded in size with 

 that expected from the earlier collection of 

 planktonic larvae (Figure 1) and represented the 

 same year class. The average total length of fish 

 from scallops increased steadily from August 

 through November (Figure 1). The small variation 

 in each collection indicated that there was a single 

 year class inhabiting sea scallops during a single 

 year. Liparis inquilinus have been collected from 

 sea scallops as late as mid-December (17 Dec. 1967, 

 lat. 38°20'N, long. 73°59'W, 66 m and lat. 

 38°18'N, long. 74°23'W, 42 m) (Figure 1). The ab- 

 sence of fish in the scallops collected in January ( 18 

 Jan. 1968, lat. 38°34.5'N, long. 73°36'W, 62 m; 26 

 Jan. 1968, lat. 38°05'N, long. 74°13'W, 66 m) cor- 

 responds with the appearance of L. inquilinus in- 

 shore off Delaware and New Jersey during the 

 same periods. These mature and maturing fish 



represent the same year class as the juveniles that 

 were associated with sea scallops. Therefore, L. 

 inquilinus reproduces when 1 yr old in the Mid- 

 Atlantic Bight. 



Adults may not survive to spawn the following 

 year. Specimens larger than 50 mm have never 

 been taken from May through December. The life 

 history of L. inquilinus in the Mid-Atlantic Bight 

 is summarized in Figure 4. 



DEATH*? 



ADULTS 



SPAWNING 



FEB-APRIL 



41 -72 mm TL 



MATURING ADULTS 

 MIGRATING INSHORE 

 NOV- JAN 

 > 33 mm TL 



LARVAE 

 PLANKTONIC 

 APRIL- JUNE 

 3-13 mm TL 



JUVENILES 

 COMMENSAL IN SEA SCALLOPS 

 JULY - DEC 

 14 - 45mm TL 



Figure 4. — Schematic presentation of the life history of Liparis 

 inquilinus in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. 



ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR OF 



LIPARIS INQUILINUS 

 ASSOCIATED WITH SCALLOP 



Resting 



In aquaria, L. inquilinus preferred an inverted 

 resting position with the disc attached to any 

 smooth substrate such as the side of the 

 aquarium, the interior of mollusk shells, rocks, or 

 glass containers. Once attached, the fish flexed its 



413 



