Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

nearshore area of the coastal domain, particularly if the annual proportion
of spawning females is high in that region. Whether females
that hatch eggs within the coastal domain in spring are present there
throughout egg maturation is unknown. It can be argued that a nearshore
location has the advantage of warmer bottom water as a stimulus to
faster development than found in the middle domain. It may directly
benefit the female to feed nearshore through the summer and fall if
food and temperatures are more conducive to faster growth and ovarian
development for the next annual egg mass. If these females do not
undergo annual onshore/offshore migrations, then year-round residence in
the shallow coastal domain following a large spill could result in a
chronic exposure to eggs to hydrocarbons.
Pelagic Larvae
This life history stanza is considered by many to be the most susceptible
to oil pollution (Armstrong, et al. 1981b, 1983a,b; Curl and Manen
1982; Rice, et al. 1983). Such high vulnerability may reflect several
relationships of larvae to oil that are unique compared to benthic
stages. First, larvae are pelagic and as such, are situated in the
water column close to spilled oil on the water surface. Second, they
have a high frequency of molting which is a physiologically stressful
process during which they are more susceptible to pollutant toxicity
(Armstrong, et al. 1976). Third, they have a high surface area to
volume ratio which may result in faster rates of uptake than occur in
larger stages. Further, as developing larvae, they may not have the
biochemical/cellular protection such as mixed function oxidases found in
larger animals (Malins 1977a,b).
Oil Toxicity. A wealth of information on oil toxicity to marine
invertebrates has been made widely available (Malins 1977a; Wolfe 1977).
Many investigators have been specifically concerned with sensitivity of
larval crustaceans (Bigford 1977; Caldwell, et al. 1977; Cucci and
Epifanio 1979; Tatem 1977; Wells and Sprague 1976). Karinen (1981) and
Rice, et al. (1983) have reviewed toxicity of oil to Pacific Northwest
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