Favero et al: Variation in egg size of Engraulis anchoita in the southeastern Brazilian Bight 
523 
Figure 4 
Spatial distribution of abundance of eggs (eggs/m 2 ) of Argentine anchoita (En¬ 
graulis anchoita) sampled in the northern part of the southeastern Brazilian 
Bight with ichthyoplankton tows during summer and winter of 2001 and 2002, 
Seasonal variation in eggs A total of 10,710 eggs of En- 
graulidae were sampled. Eggs of Argentine anchoita 
represented 98.6% of all eggs sampled (n=10,489) and 
they were more abundant during the summers of both 
years (Table 3). 
During the summer of 2001, on the only transect 
sampled, eggs occurred at only one sampling station 
close to the coast. During the winter of 2001 eggs were 
collected at 7 stations, all close to the coast (Fig. 4). 
During the summer of 2002, eggs of Argentine anchoita 
were more abundant at Cape Frio and Cape Sao Tome, 
in the north of the area sampled. Conversely, during 
the winter, these eggs were much less abundant, and 
were frequently found in the southern part of the area 
sampled (Fig. 4). 
Eggs of Argentine anchoita experienced large varia¬ 
tions in temperature and salinity and were collected 
within the entire range of temperature and salinity 
values that characterized the 3 water masses occur¬ 
ring in the study areas. Low numbers of eggs were 
found in waters with a salinity higher than 36.5 (Fig. 
5). Stations with higher mean egg volume occurred 
during the winter and when temperatures were lower 
(Fig. 5). 
Of the total number of eggs of Argentine anchoita 
that were collected, 2794 were measured. Volume, ma¬ 
jor axis and minor axis mean values were significant¬ 
ly different in comparisons of eggs from summer and 
winter of 2001 and 2002 (Table 3). Eggs were larger 
in winter than in summer for both years. A posteriori 
Tukey’s tests showed that when only comparing both 
winters, the egg-size mean values were not signifi¬ 
cantly different (volume: P=0.994; major axis: P- 0.991; 
minor axis: P=Q.999) (Table 3). 
Regional variation 
Oceanographic conditions Temperature and salinity 
varied among the 3 areas analyzed during each year, 
except in January 1988, when no significant difference 
in salinity was found (Table 4). During January of 1988 
there was a weak 3ACW intrusion at Cape Frio (locat¬ 
ed in area 1) (Fig. 6), represented by the lowest SD in 
temperature calculated for this area. Area 1 was usu¬ 
ally the coldest and saltiest area, owing to the stronger 
SACW intrusions in this area. Temperature and salin¬ 
ity values were not significantly different between ar¬ 
eas 2 and 3 (Table 4). 
