68. 



Baltimore Canyon 



Baltimore Canyon is one of the mid-Atlantic canyons. 

 Of the three canyons surveyed it most closely resembles 

 slope habitats and has the least amount of exposed out- 

 crops. This canyon in an area of net sediment accumulation, 

 with fine-grained sediment on the walls and outcrops mostly 

 restricted to the axis. Overall, Baltimore Canyon affords 

 a rather homogeneous environment in terms of variability of 

 available substrate types. The faunal constituents reflect 

 this homogeneity by closely resembling the fauna found at 

 comparable depths on the slope. This is particularly evident 

 in the sparse populations of corals and other filter-feeding 

 organisms found in this canyon. 



(1) Faunal density is high between 100 and 4 00 meters. 

 This is due mainly to the high concentration of 

 anemones between 100 and 300 meters and the quill 

 worm Uyalinoeaia artifex between 300 and 400 

 meters. Below 400 meters the faunal density is 

 uniformly low. 



(2) The major faunal constituents resemble those found 

 in slope habitats. The shallow-water assemblage 

 (100-400 m) is variable and conisists of Munida 

 validuy Cancer borealis ^ a fluffy white unidentified 

 sea pen, Cerianthus borealis and Hyalinoeaia artifex. 



