Females found at the 15-fathom stations from June through Decem- 

 ber were of two sizes, either small with immature ovaries or larger, more 

 mature specimens. Females from the deeper stations (25 and 45 fathonris) 

 were consistently larger and in advanced stages of ovary developnnent. 



The presence in an ovary of (1) ripe ova undergoing resorption, (2) 

 cell components remaining after ripe ova had been resorbed, and/or (3) ab- 

 normally large nunnbers of follicle cells is taken as evidence of prior spawn- 

 ing. By use of these criteria, many females classified as "developing" or 

 "yellow" are also classified as having previously spawned. 



Females with ripe and spent ovaries or which had previously spawned 

 were found in one or more depth zones during every cruise. The percentage of 

 ripe and spent females in the 15-fathom depth zone was greatest from mid- 

 April to early May and during November. The highest percentages of ripe and 

 spent ovaries occurred at the 25-fathom stations in February, April, from late 

 June to late July, and frona late August through mid-December. In the 45- 

 fathonn depth zones, the percentage of ripe and spent females was highest in 

 mid-April, from late May through June, and from late August through early 

 October. 



The percentage of ripe 

 and spent brown shrimp 

 in the 1961 samples. 



In addition to determining the spawning condition of the offshore 

 shrimp populations, we also obtained data on abundance, distribution, size, 

 and species composition. 



In Septennber 1961, four transects of six stations each were added 

 to the original 1961 sannpling patterns. Two of these were located to the west 

 of the Freeport, Tex. -Cameron, La. , sampling area, and two were located 

 to the east. Data for population characteristics other than spawning condi- 

 tions from these transects as well as from the original pattern have all been 

 analyzed. 



14 



