Egg Deposition and Development of Eggs and Larvae of Bigmouth Sculpin (Hemitripterus bolini)

Abstract The Bigmouth Sculpin, Hemitripterus bolini, is a cottoid fish in the family Hemitripteridae found throughout the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska to British Columbia, Canada, and northern California. Hemitripterids have internal gametic association with external fertilization as their mode of reproduction. With this strategy, spermatozoa are stored in the micropyle of eggs within the ovary after gamete transfer to the female and eggs are not fertilized until immersed in seawater. Female H. bolini deposit their eggs into at least 4 species of sponges. We collected eggs from Barrel Sponge (Halichondria lambei), Clay-Pipe Sponge (Aphrocallistes vastus), Boot Sponge (Acanthascus dawsoni), and Tree Sponge (Mycale loveni) in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. In contrast to its congeners, there has been little research on H. bolini, particularly any focusing on aspects of early life history stages. In this study, we describe the development of H. bolini eggs and larvae from newly-hatched stages to juvenil...