4.1. Rhode Island females
One size class of females in Rhode Island Sound region and three size classes in Narragansett Bay had lower proportions of SP females than expected based on available maturity information. For those Rhode Island females that were not SP(had empty recep- tacles), there are several possible explanations including: (1) they were immature. (2) they failed to mate. or(3) the sperm plugs had deteriorated past the level of detection, either due to poor initial quality or from previous use.