68 



15' Longitude W 



43 32 



43 30- 



FlGURE 1— Sampling stations (1-6) for 

 larval Atlantic herring with sets of 

 buoyed and anchored nets in Sullivan 

 Harbor, Maine. 



43 28- 



-43 32 



-43 30 



43 26 



in the flats strained 12 worms from 4,889 m^, 

 yielding 2.4 worms/1,000 m^. Shallow nets, above 

 the channel edge and those near the surface of the 

 flats, captured 37 worms by straining 9,614 m^ for 

 a catch rate of 3.8 worms/1,000 m^. Deep nets, 

 below the channel edge and those near the bottom 

 of the flats, captured 14 worms by straining 5,469 

 m^ for a catch rate of 2.6 worms/1.000 m^. 



The numbers of worms captured in the nets were 

 few when compared with the numbers of smaller 

 tychoplankters, such as amphipods. Each indi- 

 vidual weight, however, was relatively large com- 

 pared with those individuals of more numerous 

 taxa and suggested that a large biomass of blood- 

 worms sometimes enters the water column of the 

 harbor. 



Discussion 



The mature bloodworms captured during winter 

 in buoyed nets at Sullivan Harbor were not free- 

 swimming spawners. Creaser (1973) sampled a 

 small worm flat at Wiscasset, Maine, from No- 

 vember 1967 to August 1969. During that time, 

 among the many worms dug, only three spawners 

 occurred during winter. Analysis of his collections 

 showed that egg diameters increased somewhat 

 during December and January but ceased growth 

 during the colder months of February and March. 

 Spawning was triggered in June by formation of 

 the epitoke, the growth of eggs to the spawning 

 "range" and a water temperature of at least 13°C. 

 These conditions were not found in the present 



482 



