NOAA Technical Report NMFS 140 



daily regarding quantitative aspects. Because of the key 

 role played by macrobenthic invertebrates in the eco- 

 logical dynamics of the marine environment, their use- 

 fulness to man as a food resource, their potential as 

 concentrators of toxic substances that could be trans- 

 mitted through the food chain, and their usefulness as 

 indicators of environmental change, the National Ma- 

 rine Fisheries Service (formerly the Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries) of the U.S. Department of Com- 

 merce, NOAA, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological 

 Survey and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 

 conducted a quantitative survey of the benthos of the 

 entire continental margin of the eastern United States. 

 The investigation of the macrobenthic invertebrates 

 was an integral part of a broad program of study of the 

 Atlantic continental margin (Emery and Schlee, 1963; 

 Emery, 1966b). 



This report is the second of two which describe the 

 quantitative distribution of macrobenthic invertebrates 

 of the Atlantic continental shelf and slope. The first 

 (Wigley and Theroux, 1981) describes the quantitative 

 distribution of major taxonomic groups of macrobenthic 

 invertebrates inhabiting the continental shelf and slope 

 between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Cape Hatteras, 

 North Carolina. Their distribution in relation to geo- 

 graphic location, water depth, bottom sediments, range 

 in bottom water temperature, and sediment organic 

 carbon content is considered. 



The present report describes the quantitative distri- 

 bution of the principal groups of macrobenthic inverte- 

 brates inhabiting offshore New England waters. The 

 area studied extends from the mouth of the Bay of 

 Fundy eastward to Nova Scotia (longitude 64° West) 

 and southward to central New Jersey. The quantity of 

 each major taxonomic group is considered in relation 

 to the same environmental variables. Only the broad 

 distributional aspects of major groups are presented 

 and evaluated here. Other aspects of the benthic fauna 

 derived from these samples, such as community com- 

 position, trophic zonation, faunal dominance and di- 

 versity, and similar topics will be the subjects of future 

 reports. 



The large database generated by the Continental 

 Margin Program contains a wealth of valuable geologi- 

 cal, faunal, and environmental information of histori- 

 cal as well as current significance. In addition to provid- 

 ing input for a variety of descriptive studies, as de- 

 scribed above, the potential exists for information con- 

 tained in the database for ecosystem modeling tasks; 

 paleoecological and global climate change studies; and 

 benthic production estimates (Cohen etal. 1978, 1982; 

 Cohen and Wright 1979; Warwick 1980; Rowe el al. 

 1986, 1988; Bourne 1987; Cohen and Grosslein 1987; 

 Steimle 1987. 1990a, 1990b; Rowe et al., 1991; and 

 others). 



Order of Discussion 



The first section of this report briefly describes the 

 principal physical features of the region, providing a 

 general background for understanding the distribution 

 of the various faunal groups. This section is followed by 

 the main body of data describing the quantitative distri- 

 bution of 44 faunal groups in relation to the five environ- 

 mental parameters; 1) geography, 2) bathymetry, 3) 

 bottom sediments, 4) bottom water temperatures, and 

 5) sediment organic carbon. Quantitative data for geo- 

 graphic distribution are presented at two different lev- 

 els: a detailed evaluation based on calculations for each 

 of several hundred unit areas (20 min in latitude bv 20 

 min in longitude); and a less detailed evaluation based 

 on six large geographical subareas within the region 

 studied. Faunal groups are chiefly phyla, classes, and 

 orders of macrobenthos presented in phylogenetic order. 

 The final section is a summary of the environmental rela- 

 tionship of the dominant taxonomic components. 



Previous Studies 



One of the earliest studies in marine benthic ecology 

 dealt with populations inhabiting the Woods Hole-Vine- 

 yard Sound area off southeastern Massachusetts (Verrill 

 et al., 1873). This well-known study is not only the first 

 comprehensive report dealing with the New England 

 marine benthos but also one of the earliest ecological 

 accounts of marine zoobenthos in all scientific litera- 

 ture. Included in the report are descriptions of new 

 species, an annotated catalog of animals found in Vine- 

 yard Sound and vicinity, and, significantly, a large part of 

 the report is devoted to descriptions of the benthic com- 

 munities and the biotopes they inhabit. Although a small 

 number of published reports on New England natural 

 history observations and taxonomic studies were available 

 as sources of information to supplement their studv (Ckaild 

 1841. 1870;Desor 1851; Stimpson 1851, 1853; Verrill 1867; 

 and others), by far the bulk of all information contained 

 in the report by Verrill et al. is based on original collec- 

 tions and observations. 



Between 1871 and 1887 nearly 2,000 benthic fauna 

 samples were collected in waters off the northeastern 

 United States by the U.S. Fish Commission in coopera- 

 tion with the U.S. Revenue Service, U.S. Coast Survey, 

 and zoologists from American universities. Dredging 

 and trawling were the principal methods of collecting 

 samples. A large proportion of the samples were col- 

 lected in coastal areas between New Haven, Connecti- 

 cut, and Eastport, Maine; only a moderate number of 

 collections were from offshore areas. Inshore opera- 

 tions were conducted from the vessels Moccasin, 

 Mosswood, Bachf, Speedwell, Blur Light, and to some ex- 



