containing identifiable food. Gammarid amphipods occurred in six 

 stomachs and mysids and polychaetes each in one. 



Gymnelis v'/nrfw.— Twenty-seven fish doctors were caught at 12 

 stations throughout the survey area in 43- 130m. They ranged from 

 7.0cmTL(1.2 g) to 1 1.4cmTL(5.3 g). Three females longerthan 

 9.0 cm were reproductively mature. The ovaries of each contained 

 about 60 eggs 0.6 to 4.0 mm in diameter No ages were determined 

 for this species. 



Thirteen stomachs contained identifiable food. Gammarid 

 amphipods occurred in nine, caprellids in two, and mysids, poly- 

 chaetes, and copepods each in one. 



Icelus spatula.— Twenty specimens of the spatulate .sculpin were 

 caught at four stations ranging from 56 to 123 m. Eight were 

 females with a mean length of 8.3 cm TL (range 5.5-11.0). Six 

 were males with a mean length of 6.6 cm (range 5.6-7.5). Speci- 

 mens ranged in weight from 1 .6 to 14. 1 g. No ages could be deter- 

 mined due to degraded otoliths. Eggs in the ovaries ranged from 0.2 

 to 1.2 mm and numbered 1 10-1,000. Eggs were more numerous 

 and smaller than those of/, bicornis. 



Of 10 stomachs containing identifiable food. 4 contained mysids, 

 3 gammarid amphipods, 2 shrimp, and 1 polychaetes. 



Epifaunal Invertebrates 



The following includes only data collected from the 33 trawls 

 made in 1977. Invertebrates from the two 1976 trawls were not 

 worked up in comparable detail. 



We identified 238 species or species groups of invertebrates 

 including 49 gastropods, 34 amphipods, 28 polychaetes, 27 echino- 

 derms, 25 bivalves, 16ectoprocts, and 14 shrimps. Only 14 species 

 occurred in more than 20 trawls. All except the scallop Deleaopec- 

 ten groenlandicus (which was caught only east of long. 154°W) 

 were found throughout the study area. Forty -one species occurred 

 in 10 or more trawls and almost half of the 238 species occurred in 

 fewer than 5 trawls. At 26 of 33 stations, echinoderms, mainly brit- 

 tle stars and crinoids, were the most abundant invertebrate group. 

 In most cases they composed more than 75 % of the total trawl bio- 

 mass. 



At least two major community types seemed to exist. West of 

 long. 154°W, brittle stars (usually Ophiiira sarsi) were predomi- 

 nant. Associated species included soft corals (Eunephthya spp.) 

 and sea cucumbers (Psoitis sp. and Cuciimaha sp.). At all stations 

 where this brittle star community was found the bottom was muddy. 



East of long. 150°W the invertebrate community was character- 

 ized by the scallop Delectopecten groenlandicus and the crinoid 

 Heliomeira glacialis. Sea cucumbers (Psolus sp.), sea urchins 

 (Si nmgyluceni lotus droebachiensis), several species of brittle stars 

 (not Ophiura sarsi). and the shrimp Sabinea seplemcariiuila were 

 usually among the most abundant species. Most trawls in which 

 this species assemblage occurred were in rocky (cobble) areas. 



Some trawls fell into neither of the above community types. 

 Those trawls were generally in rocky areas between long. 158° and 

 I62°W and between long. 150° and 154°W. 



Brachyuran crabs.— The spider crabs Chionoecetes opilio and 

 Hyas coarclatus are probably the two single most important forage 

 species of bearded seals in Alaskan waters and are the most com- 

 mon food items of bearded seals in the Beaufort Sea (Lowry et al. 

 1979). Chionoecetes opilio is found from the Aleutian Peninsula 

 north to the Beaufort Sea, across the Canadian Arctic and into the 

 North Atlantic as far south as Maine. H\as coarclatus alutaceus 



occurs from the Shumagin Islands south of the Alaska Peninsula 

 north to the Beaufort Sea, throughout the Canadian Arctic, and off 

 Newfoundland, Labrador, and Greenland (Garth 1958). 



Forty-nine C. opilio were caught in eight trawls, all west of long. 

 155°W. Maximum carapace length was 7.5 cm. The largest male 

 was 7.5 cm CL and the largest female was 6.8 cm CL. That female 

 was the only ovigerous individual. The next largest female was 3.8 

 cm. MacGinitie (1955) reported catching no ovigerous females off 

 Point Barrow. According to Watson (1970), 50% of males are 

 mature at 5.7 cm and 50% of females at 5.0 cm. If maturation sizes 

 are similar in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the number of repro- 

 ductively mature specimens in those areas is low. The ratio of males 

 to females was about 2:1. 



One hundred and ninety-two H. coarctatus were caught in 28 

 trawls. Maximum CL was 7.3 cm with an average length of 4.9 cm. 

 The largest female was 4.6 cm, the largest male was 7.3 cm. 

 MacGinitie (1955) reported similar maximum lengths of 4. 9 cm for 

 females and 7.5 cm for males. Approximately equal numbers of 

 males and females were caught. Twenty-eight percent of all females 

 were ovigerous with the smallest ovigerous female having a cara- 

 pace length of 3.2 cm. Percent of ovigerous females varied from 

 50% west of Point Barrow to 18% east of there. 



Shrimps.— Shrimps are major prey of bearded seals in the west- 

 ern Beaufort and northeastern Chukchi Seas and are sometimes 

 eaten by ringed seals in those areas (Lowry et al. 1979). Fourteen 

 species belonging to the families Hippolytidae (8 species), Cran- 

 gonidae (5 species), and Pandalidae (1 species) were identified. All 

 14 species were also reported by MacGinitie (1955) from the Point 

 Barrow region and by Carey (1977). MacGinitie and Carey 

 together listed an additional five species from the Beaufort Sea 

 which were not found in this study. Shrimp were present in all 

 trawls with 2-8 species per trawl. In 22 tows, shrimp biomass was 

 greater than fish biomass. This was especially true east of Point 

 Barrow. A summary of distribution, abundance, and biological data 

 for each species is given in Table 6. 



Family Hippolytidae —£«a/Mi gaimardii belcheri was the most 

 numerous shrimp in our trawls and occurred at 40-150 m on both 

 muddy and rocky bottoms. It was the most numerous species by 

 number and biomass at 10 stations, all of which were west of 

 Pmdhoe Bay. Although they were present throughout the study 

 area, numbers decreased noticeably east of Pmdhoe Bay. Minimum 

 length was 5 mm CL and maximum was 14 mm CL. Maximum size 

 of our specimens is considerably smaller than that (22 mm) 

 reported by Squires (1970) for the eastern Canadian Arctic. 

 Twenty-nine percent of the total number was ovigerous. The small- 

 est ovigerous female measured 8 mm. 



Euahts macilenta occurred at 28 stations in water depths of 

 40-400 ni. It was the most numerous shrimp at three .stations deeper 

 than 100 m. Eiialus macilenta and E. g. belcheri frequently cooc- 

 curred in trawls, with E. g. belcheri the most numerous in water 

 shallower than 100 m and E. macilenta usually the most numerous 

 deeper than 100 m. Eualus macilenta was present in all of the 

 deeper trawls whereas E. gaimardii was often absent. Squires 

 (1970) reported that it was most abundant in deeper, colder waters. 

 Carapace lengths ranged from 6 to 12 mm with a mode at 9 mm. 

 There were no ovigerous females; however, many females carried 

 large, visible eggs under the carapace. 



Eualus macilenta ranges in the west Atlantic from Greenland to 

 Nova Scotia and in the North Pacific from the Okhotsk and Bering 

 Seas to the Arctic Ocean at depths of 55-540 m (Squires 1970). 



