Pacific Saury Oregon Developmental Species Pacific saury Cololabis saira Jean McCrae Oregon Dept. Saury are usually encountered at the surface but may also be found as deep as 125 fm. The peak abundance of eggs off southern and central California is from April through June and off Oregon and Washington it is in July and August. Fecundity in the western Pacific is low for a pelagic species - 10,000 to 20,000 eggs per lifetime. Fecundity data for saury in the eastern Pacific is limited and estimated at 22.7 eggs per gram of body weight.
Eggs are pelagic and adhesive.
They are spawned at or near the surface and stick together and to floating objects. Larvae hatch after about 10 days and are between 5 and 6 mm long. Newly hatched larvae are in an advance state of development which may increase their survival rate and help compensate for a low fecundity. Food and Growth Saury are active predators - adults feeding on pelagic crustaceans particularly copepods, euphausiids, and amphipods, and anchovy larvae. Feeding is mostly during the day.