ABSTRACT
Fecundity is an important parameter of the life-history strategies which has not been documented for many holothurians. Absolute and relative fecundities (related to body wall and ovary weights) have been evaluated for three common species from Britanny. The Aspidochirote Holothuria forskali has been sampled in four sites, for several years, to examine between populations and between years variability in the reproductive output, and size of the mature oocytes. No significant difference has been found between years, but they are different between populations, with mean absolute fecundity values between 7. 106 and 2. 106 oocytes. The fecundities of the Dendrochirotes Aslia lefevrei and Pawsonia saxícola have been evaluated in one site. They are several orders of magnitude less than in H. forskali? with respectively 2.104 oocytes for A. lefevrei and 5. 103 oocytes for P. saxicola. These differences are related to the mean size and organic content of the oocytes of the three species.
