Stellwagen Bank Final EIS and Management Plan 



Page 22 



Tubularia . (hydroid) 



Eudendrium . (hydroid) 



Sertularia . (hydroid) 



BoupainvilUa . (hydroid) 



Brachiopoda terebratuUna . (lampshells) 



Gersemia . (soft corals) 



Boltenia . (tunicate) 



Ascidia amaroucium . (tunicate) 



Modiolus , (bivalve mollusk) 



Placopecten . (bivalve mollusk) 



Anomia . (bivalve mollusk) 



Muscuius . (bivalve mollusk) 



Serpula . (polychaete worm) 



Chone . (polychaete worm) 



Spiorbis . (polychaete worm) 



Solaster . (starfish) 



Crossaster . (starfish) 



Neptunea . (gastropod) 



Hyas . (toad crab) 



Doris , (nudibranch) 



Dendronotus . (nudibranch) 



Ophiopholis . (brittlestar) 



Ophiacantha . (brittlestar) 



(Species list from Wigley, 1968) 



Western Stellwagen Basin infauna are dominated 

 by several polychaetes: shrimp; brittle starfish 

 (Ophiura sarsi and Q. rubusta : and pink anemome 

 (Bolocera tuediae l. A sizeable shrimp population 

 is also located in Jeffreys Basin, between Cape Ann 

 and Jeffreys Ledge; and another shrimp species, 

 Dichelopandalus leptocerus . is widely-spread and 

 abundant in the overall northeast region. 



d. Fishes 



The overall Gulf of Maine, encompassing 

 Stellwagen Bank, supports a very wide variety of 

 pelagic and demersal fish and shellfish species. 

 Pelagic species include herring, mackerel, sharks, 

 swordfish, bluefish, bluefin tuna, capelin, and 

 menhaden. Demersal species include cod, haddock, 

 hake, pollack, whiting, cusk, and several species of 

 flatfish such as flounders and halibut. 



This notable variety of species results from the 

 geographic and thermal transition zone occurring at 

 Cape Cod, which separates the Gulf of Maine from 

 the Mid-Atlantic region. The transition zone 



exhibits both varying composition and abundance of 

 fish fauna; and is the cause of substantial seasonal 

 variation of species. Most of the pelagic species 

 exhibit clear seasonal migratory movements in 

 response to changes in water temperatures. 

 Seasonal movements among several demersal 

 species are generally confined to shifts within the 

 overall Gulf of Maine area, although some species, 

 such as pollack, are migratory. 



Generally, the Gulf of Maine is dominated by 

 boreal, non-migratory species; and the Mid-Atlantic 

 is largely populated by warm-water, migrating 

 species. Spring bottom trawl surveys conducted 

 between 1968 and 1981 indicate over 86% of species 

 in the Gulf of Maine are boreal, or cold temperate. 

 Autumn surveys also indicate the majority of Gulf 

 fish species are cold temperate (79.5%) (NMFS, 

 1982). Typically, warm temperate species, such as 

 bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix l will migrate 

 southward during cold months of the year; while 

 some cold temperate species, such as cod (Gadus 

 jmorhua), retreat northward during warm months. 



Although considerable information is available on 

 commercially-important fish fauna of the Gulf of 

 Maine, relatively few studies have been conducted 

 on fish fauna as a whole (Azarovitz and Grosslein, 

 1987). Inventory activities conducted over the larger 

 Georges Bank area during 1968-1981 employed 

 otter trawls, to which not all species aj^e vulnerable 

 (in particulcU", large pelagics such as tuna and 

 billfish); therefore, the listings below of fish and 

 invertebrate species are not complete. The diversity 

 of fish and invertebrate fauna is highest during 

 autumn months; approximately 100 species have 

 been identified over the Georges Bank-Gulf of 

 Maine area (Grosslein and Azarovitz, 1987). 



Seasonal distribution and movement of fish and 

 migratory invertebrate species are explained 

 generally by classification of abundant species into 

 four groups which demonstrate particular movement 

 patterns. Groupings are based on seasonal 

 movements within the 60-fathom (110 meter) 

 contour. 



