East
Coast females preferred to release during early evening high tides, while West Coast
females preferred to release during the afternoon high tides. Females from both
populations were more likely to release larvae during higher than during lower amplitude
tides. However, neither population synchronized release with the tides of highest
amplitude and, as a consequence, the MAT plots showed the largest scatter. Thus, tidal
amplitude was the least important of the three cycles for hatching synchrony