Stoner and Ray Strombus gigas in a marine fishery reserve 



559 



higher mean larval densities than the offshore sta- 

 tion (Table 3). 



Early-stage larvae (<500 urn SL) represented the 

 most abundant size class in collections made at both 

 areas (>90%) (Table 4). Late-stage larvae (>900 urn 

 SL) were always present in the MFR, except on 22 

 June 1994, and always occurred at higher densities 

 in the MFR than in the fished area. The highest ob- 

 served density was 1.9 late-stage larvae/10 m 3 on 4 

 August 1993. Late-stages were also more abundant 

 offshore than inshore at both sites. 



Discussion 



Comparisons with earlier investigations 



Although direct comparisons of LSI/WW density data 

 with data from other studies are made difficult be- 

 cause of different sampling strategies, incomplete 

 data in some reports, and failures to distinguish be- 

 tween adult and juvenile densities, a review of the 

 literature suggests high regional variability in adult 

 queen conch densities, ranging over three orders of 



