Discovery of a cluster of unhatched fish eggs of a zoarcid buried 10 to 12 cm deep in continental slope sediments off Washington state, USA

Abstract

During a study of radionuclide profiles in box cores of continental slope sediments off Washington state, USA, in June 1982, we unexpectedly found a cluster of unhatched fish eggs 10 to 12 cm beneath the surface of one of our samples from a depth of 1265 m. The morphology of the apparently healthy embryos left little doubt that they were zoarcids, probably of the genus Bothrocara. Vertical profiles of ammonia and silica in pore waters and excess ²³⁴Th in sediments revealed effects of mixing when the parent fish deposited the eggs in a burrow about 20 d prior to coring.