Composition and Distribution of Macrobenthic Invertebrate Fauna 1 



NEW s \ NE ' W y^"\ \ 



JERSEY '.YORK/ \ ....«»__ / 



INDIVIDUALS 

 PER SQUARE METER 



\ NEW .- \ \ 



GRAMS 

 PER SQUARE METER 



ECHIURA 



Figure 87 

 Geographic distribution of Echiura: A — number of specimens per square meter of bot- 

 tom; B — biomass in grams per square meter of bottom. 



and least known group; they are also uncommon in 

 other areas of the world ocean as well — only eight spe- 

 cies belonging to six genera have been reported (Barnes, 

 1974). Priapulids contributed <0.1% of the total num- 

 ber of specimens and biomass in the region (Table 3). 

 Priapulids are cucumber-shaped predacious worms 

 that burrow into sand and mud and feed upon other 



soft-bodied, slow-moving invertebrates, especially poly- 

 chaete worms. They are typically between 4 to 8 cm. in 

 length. Our specimens were considerably smaller, in 

 the 1 to 2 cm size range. Color of specimens ranges 

 from whitish to flesh colored with some yellow on ap- 

 pendages; some of our specimens were somewhat red- 

 dish brown. 



