166 



NOAA Technical Report NMFS 140 



new forms were described by Edward L. Boitsfield 

 (1965), National Museum of Canada: Protohaustorius 

 wigleyi, Parahaustorius longimerus, P. holmesi, P. attenuatus, 

 Pseudohaustorius borealis, Acanthohaustorius millsi, A. in- 

 termedins, and A. spinosus. At least three suborders are 

 represented in the collections: Gammaridea, Caprel- 

 lidea, and Hvperiidea. Both the species and the num- 

 ber of individuals of the first group were considerably 

 more numerous than in the latter two groups. 



Body size of amphipods was somewhat limited. Small 

 species, which were common in the families Metopidae 

 and Stenothoidae, were 1 to 2 mm in length, or slightly 

 more. The largest species in our collections, the caprellid 

 Aeginina longicornis, had a body length of more than 2 

 cm. Gammaridea larger than 1.5 cm (Casio, Maera, and 

 a few others) were uncommon. 



Color of amphipods ranged from light cream or nearly 

 white (Lysianopsis, Ampelisca, and many others) to mod- 

 erately dark brown (Leptocheims, Melita, and others). 

 No brightly colored specimens were detected. Some of 

 the more colorful genera were Stenothoe, Listriella, and 

 Amphiporeia, which have red eyes that contrast with the 

 cephalon, and some members have contrasting colors 

 on the thoracic and abdominal plates. 



Quite a few species of New England gammaridean 

 amphipods are tube dwellers. The tubes are usually 

 elongate, cylindrical, or laterally flattened structures 

 constructed of sand grains or clay particles cemented 

 together. It may be significant that at least two of the 

 most common genera (Ampelisca and Unciola) are tube 

 dwellers. Also Haploops, which is one of the few amphi- 

 pods that was relatively common in the deeper waters 

 of the Gulf of Maine, is tubicolous. 



Amphipods occurred in 862 samples (80% of total), 

 their density averaged 656/m 2 , and their biomass aver- 

 aged 4.16 g/m 2 (Table 5). 



Geographic Distribution 



Amphipods were extensively distributed throughout the 

 New England region (Fig. 172). They were particularly 

 abundant on the continental shelf, except for the deeper 

 parts of the Gulf of Maine and the southwestern part of 

 the Nova Scotian shelf. Amphipods were an exception- 

 ally abundant group and densities in the coastal areas 

 and on the offshore banks commonly averaged be- 

 tween 100 and 1,000 individuals/m 2 . High density (1,000 

 to 8,900 individuals/m 2 ) areas were not uncommon in 

 this region. Densities of 1 to 100/m 2 were typical in the 



