Literature Cited 



CLARK, F. N. 



1934. Maturity of the California sardine {Sardina 

 caerulea (, determined by ova measurements. Calif. Dep. 

 Fish (^ame, Fish Bull. 42, 49 p. 

 HUNTER, J. R., AND S. R. GOLDBERG. 



1980. Spawning incidence and batch fecundity in northern 

 anchovy, Engraulis mordax. Fish. Bull., U.S. 77:641- 

 652. 

 LAMBERT, J. G. D. 



1970. The ovary of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata . The atre- 

 tic follicle, a corpus atreticum or a corpus luteum 

 praeovulationis. Z. Zellforsch. 107:54-67. 



LEONG, R. 



1971. Induced spawning of the northern anchovy, En- 

 graulis mordax Girard. Fish. Bull., U.S. 69:357-360. 



PARKER. K. 



1980. A direct method for estimating northern anchovy, 

 Engraulis mordax, spawning biomass. Fish. Bull., U.S. 

 78:541-544. 

 YAMAMOTO, K., AND H. YOSHIOKA. 



1964. Rhythm of development in the oocyte of the medaka, 

 Oryzias latipes. Bull. Fac. Fish.. Hokkaido Univ. 15:5-19. 



STEPHEN R. GOLDBERG 



Department of Biology 

 Whit tier College 

 Whittier, CA 90608 



Institute del Mar del Peru 

 Apartado 22, Callao, Peru 



Programa Cooperatwo Peruano-Aleman 

 de Investigation Pesquera tPROCOPA) 

 Instituto del Mar del Peru 

 Apartado 22. Callao, Peru 



VICTOR HUGO ALARCON 



JUERGEN ALHEIT 



A NOTE ON SPAWNING OF 



THE PACIFIC MARKET SQUID, LOLIGO 



OPALESCENS (BERRY, 1911), IN THE BARKLEY 



SOUND REGION, VANCOUVER ISLAND, 



CANADA 



In California, Loligo opalescens (Berry, 1911), has 

 large spawning schools and spawn masses 

 (McGowan 1954; Fields 1965; Hobson 1965; Cous- 

 teau and Diole 1973; Hochberg and Fields 1980). 

 Spawns and spawning effort of this squid in the 

 Pacific Northwest are poorly known and, to our 

 knowledge, large spawns or spawning events have 

 not been quantitatively described. 



Loligo opalescens spawns regularly in Barkley 

 Sound near Bamfield, British Columbia, (lat. 



48°50.0'N, long. 125°07.5'W) in spring. We 

 examined and measured portions of a spawn using 

 scuba during early June 1982. The largest single 

 capsule mass aggregation in our 200 x 50 m sur- 

 vey area was measured. Adjacent areas of smaller 

 solitary egg capsule masses were surveyed using 

 transects to determine overall spawn dimensions 

 and percent cover of individual capsule masses. 

 Dimensions of 23 typical masses were determined. 

 Four representative masses were collected; the 

 number of capsules in each was counted; and from 

 each, 10 capsules were randomly selected and the 

 number of eggs in each capsule was determined. 

 These eggs were examined microscopically to 

 determine the developmental stage, which was 

 compared with the embryological stages illus- 

 trated in Fields (1965) to estimate the time of 

 deposition. 



The spawn, including areas of continuous and 

 solitary egg capsule masses, was larger than the 

 area surveyed, as the spawn extended below our 

 deepest possible survey depth. Within our survey 

 area, the largest capsule mass aggregation cov- 

 ered about 69.3 m 2 and averaged 0.28 ± 0.09 m (n 

 = 4) in thickness. The mean density of the indi- 

 vidual masses was 1.3 ± 0.1/m 2 , and the mean area 

 covered by 23 masses was 0.28 ± 0.14 m 2 /mass, 

 with a range of 0.13-0.66 m 2 . The mean number of 

 egg capsules per solitary mass was 1,937 ± 912 (n 

 = 4), with 149 ± 35 eggs/capsule (n = 40). Thus, 

 the total number of eggs per isolated mass was 

 288,000 ± 125,000. For the large areas of isolated 

 masses, the potential number of larvae produced 

 per 100 m 2 ranged from 19 to 58 x 10 6 , with a mean 

 of 37 x 10 6 . The number of potential larvae from 

 the single large aggregation of 69.3 m 2 ranged 

 from 27 to 204 x 10 6 , with a mean of 72 x 10 6 . 



Based on embryological stages observed, dep- 

 osition probably occurred during the night of 

 31 May-1 June 1982. Small squid schools were ob- 

 served spawning near the survey area on that 

 date. None of the embryos were old enough to be 

 deposited before 31 May, and all were of the same 

 embryological stage. 



Female squids from Californian populations de- 

 posited about 21 capsules, each containing about 

 200 eggs, in one night (Fields 1965); fecundity data 

 from our region are not available. Hochberg and 

 Fields (1980) stated that L. opalescens females 

 produce 180-300 eggs/capsule. Our data indicate a 

 lower mean value of about 150 eggs/capsule. If 

 each female deposited 20 capsules, the large mea- 

 sured aggregation would be the result of about 

 24,000 females. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 82, NO. 2. 1984. 



445 



