The present paper is a summarization of a sampling series 

 taken throughout the Gulf of Maine beginning in 1982. Some of 

 the taxonomic identifications remain to be completed, but already 

 the major patterns are beginning to emerge. Added to the soft 

 bottom data are the results of a set of dive samples taken on 

 rocky ridges and gravel banks through the use of the submersible 

 Delta during the summer of 1987. 



METHODS 



The 78 soft bottom samples, taken during the summers of 

 1982-84, were all obtained with a 0.1 m 2 box corer. The sediment 

 was washed over a 500 urn sieve, the residue being preserved in 5% 

 formalin. (A more detailed study of these samples will be publi- 

 shed elsewhere. ) In July, 1987, a series of 21 dives were made at 

 eleven sites with the submersible Delta on a variety of rocky and 

 gravelly bottoms not previously sampled from surface ships as 

 well as some of the deeper basin sites sampled by box corer. 

 These sites (Table 1) ranged in depth from 240-1050 ft. Samples 

 were collected with a suction pump fitted with a 250 urn bag on 

 one side and a 500 urn bag on the other. Sediment, rock surfaces, 

 and biotic structures were sampled until the bags were full. No 

 effort was made to standardize areas covered nor was it possible 

 to determine how much area had been sampled. On return to the 

 surface, the samples were roughly sorted, with echinoderms being 

 preserved in alcohol and the remainder in 10% buffered formalin. 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 



At the time of writing this preliminary report, 125 species 

 had been identified from the submersible obtained samples. These 

 included 78 polychaetes, 30 crustaceans, and 17 echinoderms 

 (Table 2). While most of the echinoderms were identifiable, the 

 identities of about half the polychaetes still remain in doubt. 

 Among the crustaceans, several of the Amphipoda, and at least one 

 of the Isopoda are new species. The isopod genus, Notoxenoides 

 sp., and the amphipod Lepechinella arctica , are deep-sea taxa 

 that have probably come into the Gulf of Maine with the slope 

 water as it enters through the Northeast Channel. It is likely 

 that many species in the deeper basins will be found to have 

 bathyal affinities as suggested by Rowe et al. (1982). 



While these data as well as those collected during the box 

 core survey of the Gulf of Maine need yet to be subjected to 

 classificatory analysis using objective techniques, an underlying 

 pattern in the species distributions has become quite noticeable. 

 At this time it appears there are at least 7 assemblages making 

 up the benthic community of the Gulf of Maine (Figure 1). These 

 assemblages are directly relatable to properties of the overlying 

 water as well as to the composition of the substratum. The 

 assemblages and their characteristics are outlined below. 



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