A number of different factors have been shown to affect the vertical migration of the zooplankton, among them changes in light intensity, temperature, salinity and the presence of food (see Russell, 1927; Hardy & Paton, 1947; Cushing, 1951; Bainbridge, 1953; Harris, 1953; Moore, 1958; Banse, 1959). The object of the present study was to find out whether in female Calanus there was any relation between vertical migration and the degree of ripeness.

When Calanus were taken by tow-nettings near the laboratory it was noticed that the percentage of adult females in the ripe condition was generally greater in hauls made close to the surface than in those from deep water. For example in the spring of 1953 a series of hauls was made near the surface in Fairlie Channel where the maximum depth is about 40 m, and at 60–80 m off Garroch Head a few miles away where the depth is 115 m. Throughout the period of examination there was a much higher percentage of ripe females in the shallow than in the deep hauls (Table 1, Fig. 1). The deep hauls show the progressive ripening of the females during the spring reaching a peak in percentage ripe which coincides with the spring diatom increase in the middle of March. It also coincides with the maximum number of eggs produced by laying females. In shallow water the sequence is not so obvious because of the high percentage of ripe females at the surface most of the time.