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Fishery Bulletin 102(2) 



Tinglers Island. We also tagged 132 adult conch at Duck 

 Key; 73 were translocated to Pelican Shoal, and 59 were 

 re-released at Duck Key. In addition. 100 resident offshore 

 conch were tagged in situ at both Alligator Reef and Peli- 

 can Shoal. Conch were tagged with individually numbered 

 tags that were secured to the shell spires by Monel wire; 

 in addition, colored flagging tape was similarly attached 

 to facilitate recapture. 



Reproductive behavior of tagged queen conch was moni- 

 tored at each of the four sites on a weekly basis, weather 

 permitting, from March 1999 through November 1999. Off- 

 shore sites were surveyed by using SCUBA; nearshore sites 

 were surveyed by snorkeling. Mating activity was quanti- 

 fied by counting the number of tagged individuals (both 

 males and females) copulating; spawning activity was 

 quantified by counting the number of tagged females laying 

 egg masses. Data from the two nearshore sites were pooled 

 and data from the two offshore sites were pooled. Data were 

 also pooled by season: spring consisted of March, April, and 

 May; summer consisted of June, July, and August; and fall 

 consisted of September, October, and November. 



Histological examinations 



Gonadal tissue samples from adult conch were collected 

 for histological examination at the initiation of the 

 study (spring; the start of the breeding season), during 

 July-August (summer; breeding season), and during 

 October (fall; the end of the breeding season) in order to 

 assess gonadal development in relation to time after trans- 

 location. We collected approximately 40 resident offshore 

 conch during each season (Table 1). However, because 

 of the small size of the nearshore aggregations and the 

 small number of nearshore conch translocated offshore, 

 we collected about 20 individuals from these two groups 

 each season (Table 1). We did not determine the sex of the 

 animals before sample collection; therefore the breakdown 

 by sex is not exactly even (Table 1). 



A one-cm :i piece of tissue from the middle of the gonad of 

 each animal was placed in a labeled plastic cassette and 

 preserved in 10 f; i neutral buffered formalin. After 7 to 14 

 days in fixative, the tissue samples were rinsed overnight 

 in freshwater. The samples were then dehydrated in a se- 



