52 



NOAA Technical Report NMFS 140 







.? 



«r,- 



«'*• 



j ' ' m 



cv 





Figure 19 



Blown silt\ sand bottom .it 1 16 m depth southwest of Grand Marian Island. A substantial number 

 nt brittlestars (Ophiuroidea) oi various sizes an- clearly visible, as are several burrow holes. The 

 tine nature ot the bottom at this locality is indicated by the cloud of sediment raised by the camera 

 tripping weight striking the bottom at upper left. Photograph was taken at station 1 173. located at 

 lat. 44L>S' V, long. 67°15' W. 



general, density increased to 4,038/m 2 where the tem- 

 perature range was greater than 20°C, and biomass rose 

 to 467 g/m 2 where the range was l(i to 19.9°C. This 

 close relationship of sparse fauna in stable temperature 

 areas and rich fauna in unstable areas undergoing wide 

 temperature fluctuations is not necessarily a direct cause- 

 and-effe< t relationship of temperature alone but is the 

 result of a combination of temperature and other envi- 

 ronmental factors. Water masses that remain relatively 

 constant in temperature and are unchanging in most 



other physical and chemical properties also tend to 

 have more uniform biological components. In the New 

 England region these water masses tend to be deeper, 

 and therefore colder, darker, and lower in nutrients, 

 plankton, nekton, as well as benthos. 



I he percentage occurrence of each taxonomic group 

 in samples in each temperature range class is presented 

 in Table 25. 



