CERIANTHARIA, ZOANTHIDEA, CORALLIMORPHARIA, AND 



ACTINIARIA FROM THE CONTINENTAL SHELF AND SLOPE 



OFF THE EASTERN COAST OF THE UNITED STATES 



Bernt Widersten' 



ABSTRACT 



Specimens were examined from 95 stations located between lat. 37°49'N, long. 75°25'W and lat. 

 44°4rN, long. 66°14'W and from depths between 9 and 366 m. The material was collected by the Bureau 

 of Commercial Fisheries, Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass., in the years 1955-68. The collection, 

 which will be deposited in the Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Woods 

 Hole, comprises two ceriantharian species, Cerianthus borealis and Ceriantkeopsis americanus; one 

 zoanthid species, Epizoanthus incrustatus; one species of Corallimorpharia, Corynactis delawarei n. 

 sp., and 19 species of Actiniaria, Edwardsia sulcata, Halcampa duodecimcirrata, Haloclava producta, 

 Peachia parasitica, Bolcera tuediae, Tealia crassicornis, Actinostola callosa, Stomphia coccinea, 

 Paranthus rapiformis, Antkoloba perdix, Metridium senile fimbriatum, Haliplanella luciae, 

 Sagartiogeton verrilii, Hormathia nodosa, Actinauge verrilli, Phelliactis americana n. sp., Am- 

 phianthus nitidus, Stephenauge nexilis, and Stephenauge (?) spongicola. 



The following description of the anthozoan species 

 from the western North Atlantic is based on 

 material collected by the Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries, Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, 

 Mass., during 1955-68. The collection will be de- 

 posited in the Northeast Fisheries Center, Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service, Woods Hole. 



Besides the morphological descriptions of 

 different species, much importance has been at- 

 tributed to the cnidom of the studied specimens. 

 The sizes of the nematocyst capsules mentioned in 

 the description refer to unexploded capsules. 



While the fixation and preserving of the mate- 

 rial in Formalin'-' and alcohol had only slightly 

 affected the sizes of the nematocysts, the measure- 

 ments of the column, tentacles, pedal disc, and 

 other organs are, naturally, not directly compara- 

 ble with those in living specimens. 



The terminology used in this paper follows that 

 by Stephenson (1935) and Carlgren (1949). The 

 nomenclature of the nematocysts is the classical 

 one, founded by Weill (1934) and amplified by 

 Carlgren (1940a, 1945, 1949). 



The sectioned mterial was stained with Heiden- 

 hain's azan or iron hematoxylin-eosin. 



All nematocyst measurements are given in 

 microns. 



'Institute of Zoology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. 

 -Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



Manuscript accepted April 1976. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 74, NO. 4, 1976. 



A list of the stations with names of the species 

 collected at each station and with ADP (automatic 

 data processing) codes for latitude and longitude; 

 time, day, month, year, and number of collection; 

 vessel; cruise; station number; gear; water depth; 

 water temperature; and sediment type is on file at 

 the Northeast Fisheries Center, Woods Hole. 



DESCRIPTIONS 



Ceriantharia 

 Cerianthidae 



Cerianthus borealis yerriW 1873 



OCCURRENCE.-40°10'N, 71°00'W, 146 m, silty 

 sand, 1 specimen; 41°00'N, 70°48'W, ? m, 1 spec- 

 imen; 41°50'N, 67°56'W, 51 m, sand, 2 specimens; 

 42°41'N, 70°05'W, 114 m, gravel, 2 specimens. 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.-The spec- 

 imens were strongly damaged in their proximal 

 parts. The morphology of the distal part of the 

 body as well as the composition of the cnidom and 

 the sizes of the nematocysts were typical of the 

 species (cf. Carlgren 1940a). While the specimens 

 from the two southernmost localities were young 

 (diameter of the distal part of the body 4-8 mm), 

 the other individuals were older, the largest of 

 them being equipped with 150 labial as well as 

 marginal tentacles. 



857 



