The large commercially important shrimps of the decapod family Pandalidae demonstrate high incidences of protandric hermaphroditism (Berkeley, 1929(Berkeley, , 1930.Almost all of the individuals pass through a functional male stage of one to three years before undergoing transformation to a functional female stage. During the male stage the gonad is an ovotestis, but only the testicular elements are functional.Whereas, in the female stage the gonad is a true ovary, the testes having degenerated during sexual transformation. The incidence of protandry among the eleven different species of Pandalus and Pandalopsis from the North Pacific appears to be variable in those populations that have been studied. Some species are dominantly protandric such as Pandalopsis dispar, Pandalus platyceros, and likely P. inontagui tridens and P. stenolepis (Butler, 1964). Primary females or those females that have not passed through an initial male stage have been reported in populations of Pandalus jordani, P. hypsinotus, P. danac and P. goninnis (Butler, 1964) ; the circumpolar Pandalus DANIEL L. HOFFMAN MATERIALS AND METHODS Pandalus platyceros Brandt is the largest of the Pacific pandalicls. The females at times exceed 20 cm in length from the base of the eyestalk to the tip of the telson. This shrimp is fished heavily by commercial shrimpers throughout its range from Unalaska south to San Diego. However, the important fishing is found in the inland waters off the coast of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. The coloration of the shrimp is quite variable ranging from a bluegreen generally found in small immature individuals to a brilliant orange. Regionally, P. platyceros is commonly called "The Spot" owing to a pair of white spots on the first and fifth abdominal pleura. The adults are generally found in w r ater to Hoffman, Daniel L. 1972. "THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OVOTESTIS AND COPULATORY ORGANS IN A POPULATION OF PROTANDRIC SHRIMP PANDALUS PLATYCEROS BRANDT FROM LOPEZ SOUND, WASHINGTON." The Biological bulletin 142, 251-270.

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