Evidence for fall spawning of northern bay scallops Argopecten Irradians irradians (Lamarck 1819) in New York

Spawning of Argopecten irradians irradians is generally believed to occur b etween late May to August; however, some literature reports and anecdotal o bservations have suggested that ripe individuals may be present well into t he fall. This paper reports on evidence for fall spawning of bay scallops t hat we sampled from different populations in Long Island, New York, waters, in different years. At two sites, a spawning peak in September followed a discrete spawning peak in early summer (late June/early July). Scallops at one or more of four different sites were conclusively shown to spawn well i nto the fall (late September, October, or early November) during 3 differen t years: one in which a brown tide (Aureococcus anophagefferens) algal bloo m occurred (1995) and during nonbrown tide years (1993, 1994). Our work, co upled with reports of other researchers, suggests that fall spawning of A. i. irradians in NW Atlantic waters does not seem to be uncommon and may be important in some populations during particular years.