specimens of S. marinus were below those of non- 

 fertilized specimens and suggested that the dif- 

 ference was related either to incomplete fertili- 

 zation or to presence of nonviable eggs which 

 are subsequently resorbed after fertilization. 

 MacGregor (1970) observed undeveloped or un- 

 fertilized oocytes from the same batch as devel- 

 oping embryos in all species of Sebastes exam- 

 ined, but these accounted for only 0.06% of the 

 egg count in 5. paucispinis. In S. entomelas, this 

 percentage was higher (Table 2). Moreover, since 

 the percentage of expected fecundity decreases 

 with later developmental stage, resorption of 

 nonviable embryos may occur throughout the 

 gestation period. Because estimated and realized 

 fecundity may differ, Gunderson (1977) sug- 

 gested that fecundity estimates of S. alutus be 

 considered tentative. Foucher and Beamish 

 (1980) have made similar suggestions concern- 

 ing fecundity of the oviparous Pacific hake, 

 noting that nonviable oocytes could contribute to 

 overestimates of fecundity. In the genus Sebastes 

 it would thus be interesting to determine fecun- 

 dity in various stages of developing and fertilized 

 ovaries in a shallow living species which could be 

 captured with no fear of extrusion-related reduc- 

 tions in counts of fertilized eggs or embryos. 



Acknowledgments 



This work was supported by Contract Number 

 81-ABC-00144 from the National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries 

 Center, Seattle, Wash. We thank the fishing in- 

 dustry in Newport, Oreg., for cooperation with 

 sampling and catch information and R. L. Dem- 

 ory and W. H. Lenarz for their helpful comments 

 on the manuscript. We also thank W. H. Lenarz 

 for supplying ages for the specimens from this 

 study and Karen Dykes for typing the drafts of 

 the manuscript. 



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George W. Boehlert 



Oregon State University 

 Marine Science Center 

 Newport, OR 97365 



Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 

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Oregon State University 

 Murine Science Center 

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W. H. Barss 



P. B. Lamberson 



A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF 



AUTOCHTHONOUS BACTERIAL FLORA ON 



THE GILLS OF THE BLUE CRAB, CALLINECTES 



SAPIDUS, AND ITS ENVIRONMENT 1 



The bacterial flora of blue crabs, Callinectes 

 sapidus, has been previously enumerated and 

 identified by examining blue crab hemolymph 

 (Tubiash et al. 1975; Sizemore et al. 1975; Col- 

 well et al. 1975). Other studies on live blue crabs 



•Contribution No. 82-17C of the Southeast Fisheries Center 

 Charleston Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 NOAA, P.O. Box 12607, Charleston, SC 29412-0607. 



884 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 4, 1982. 



