FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 69, NO. 4 



of the nearshore coastal areas where N. ameri- 

 cana is common, the bottom types are predomi- 

 nantly sands with low silt content (Wigley, 

 1961; Uchupi, 1963). 



Relation to Water Temperature 



This mysid is eurythermic and the extremes 

 of temperature in shallow New England waters 

 (0° to over 20° C), in shallow portions of 

 Georges Bank (2°-18° C), and in the vicinity of 

 the Chesapeake Bay (over 25° C) , do not appear 

 to inhibit survival of this species. Reproduc- 

 tion and other life processes, however, are af- 

 fected by temperature. Also, the sequence, tim- 

 ing, or duration of temperature regimes may be 

 important. For example, in the offshore region 

 south of Rhode Island and Long Island, N.Y., 

 where there is a low abundance of this species, 

 the presence of a layer of cold bottom water (the 

 so-called "cold bubble") may have a pronounced 

 influence in repelling immigi-ants or retarding 

 reproduction. 



Tribe HETEROMYSINI 



Heteromysis formosa S. I. Smith, 1873 



H. formosa is an amphi-Atlantic species that 

 has been reported in the eastern Atlantic from 

 the northern coast of France, British Isles, and 

 Norway. In the western Atlantic it is known 

 to occur along the eastern and southern coasts 

 of the United States from Maine to the Gulf of 

 Mexico. All except three of the western At- 

 lantic records are from the northeastern sector, 

 between Maine and New Jersey. The three 

 southern records are all from relatively deep- 

 water (48 to 227 m) localities. Specimens from 

 48 m were collected by Brattegard (1969) off 

 Fort Pierce, Fla. The other two records, 

 reported by Tattersall (19.51), are based on col- 

 lections of the research vessel Albatross at a 

 depth of 227 m off the coast of North Carolina 

 (lat 34°38' N, long 75°34' W) and in eastern 

 Gulf of Mexico (lat 28°36' N, long 85°.34' W) 

 at a depth of 203 m. (One additional deepwater 

 sample was collected in the northern region by 

 the research vessel Fish Hairlc at station 917, 

 located south of Martha's Vineyard. Mass., at lat 

 40°22' N. long 70°42' \V at a depth of 81 m.) 



The NMFS collection contains 72 specimens 

 from 15 samples (Figure 19; Burns and Wigley, 

 Table 19) . The geographic distribution of these 



.^ 



NEW 

 YORK 



Heteromysis formosa 



FiGl'RE 19. — Geographic distribution of Heteromysis 

 farmusa based on specimens in the collection at the 

 NMFS Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole. 



samples extends from southwestern Georges 

 Bank (1 sample) and southern Massachusetts 

 (12 samples) to northern New Jersey (2 

 samples). 



Although the bathymetric range for the 

 NMFS samples is 2 to 84 m, only one .sample 

 containing a single sjjecimen was taken at 84 m. 

 All others were collected at depths of 26 m or 

 less. This species customarily inhabits the shal- 

 low (1-20 m) inshore areas, such as harbors, 

 bays, and estuaries, where it is much more com- 

 mon than on the outer i)ortion of the continental 

 shelf. The presence of only a single specimen 

 in the NMFS collection from moderately deep 

 water on the outer continental shelf, in contrast 

 to the 71 specimens from inshore locations, illus- 



740 



