The spawning season ofHaliotis irisMartyn, as indicated by a gonad index and examination of ovaries, was late summer to autumn at Kaikoura, New Zealand, in 1967–68. In contrast,H. australisGmelin spawned twice, once in the spring and again in the late summer to autumn. Both patterns are typical of haliotids. But in the 1968–69 year neither species spawned; full gonads with apparently ripe eggs were maintained through the winter of 1969. No reason for this inconsistency can be offered.Haliotis irisat Taylors Mistake, 154 km south, followed essentially the same pattern as KaikouraH. iristhrough 1968, but spawned slightly in autumn 1969.