Figure 4. — Spawn, ejected by the calico scallop on the left, appears as a milky cloud. 

 (Photo by George C. Miller, National Marine Fisheries Service.) 



scallop. The color of calico scallop ovaries var- 

 ies with the degree of ripeness and is useful to 

 determine maturation and spawning time. 

 Resting ovaries are whitish-yellow, maturing 

 ovaries are yellow-orange, and ripe ovaries are 

 bright reddish-orange, according to Roe, Cum- 

 mins, and Bullis (1971). The seasonal distri- 

 bution of scallops of known age may also provide 

 some insight concerning spawning time. Preli- 

 minary growth data for young scallops (see sec- 

 tion on Age and Gro\vth) suggest that scallops 

 2 months old are about 17 mm in shell height. 

 Consequently, occurrence of scallops of this size 

 or smaller may indicate recent spawning. In ad- 

 dition, spawning time may be determined by ex- 

 posure of spat collecting traps for known time 

 periods throughout the year (Fig. 5). 



Techniques dependent upon the minimum sizes 

 of scallops and on the catches of spat traps may 



not be valid for determining spawning time for 

 a particular area if scallop larvae ai'e transported 

 into the area from great distances as suggested 

 by Kirby-Smith (1970). 



Off the Florida east coast, maturation, based 

 on ovarian color, begins in late summer and cul- 

 minates in the spring, with spawning extending 

 from late February to June (Roe, Cummins, and 

 Bullis, 1971). These authors concluded, how- 

 ever, that protracted spawning occurs in some 

 areas because small scallops were found through- 

 out most of the year. Our observations on ovar- 

 ian color, minimum sizes, and spat trap collec- 

 tions also indicate that some spawning occurs 

 year around (see footnote 2). 



Off North Carolina, observations on scallop 

 gonads indicated that spawning took place from 

 May to June (Kirby-Smith, 1970). Small scal- 

 lops 10 mm or less in height, however, were 



