Abbott' American Seashells, 1st edition, p. 41 cites C. R. Elsey for the
item "one female Crassostrea gigas...may discharge into the water each year
eggs numbering 1000 to the eighth power."  I have not been able to find such
a statement in Elsey's publications (1933-1934); it is probably a mistake
for "1000 x 10 to the eighth power", which is the normal way scientists
specify how many zeroes to add. Thus the intended number might have been
1000 plus eight zeroes, i.e., 100,000,000,000, not
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
 
This number, however, still appears to be a factor of 1000 too large. The
eggs of Crassostrea gigas are about 60 microns in diameter; 100,000,000,000
of them would have a volume of about 8 liters. The true number is probably
100,000,000, which is what Cole (1941) cited for Crassostrea virginica.
Similarly, Abbott (1974, American Seashells, 2nd edition) cites 50,000,000
eggs per spawning for Crassostrea.
 
Gary
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Gary Rosenberg, Ph.D.                     [log in to unmask]
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