Figure 22. — Geographic distribution of species from the family Oedicerotidae in the Middle Atlantic Bight. 



Synchelidium eunericanum Bousfield 1973 



Bousfield (1973) gave the range of this sand burrowing 

 species as Maine to Georgia. He found S. americanum 

 on fine sands of semiprotected beaches from just sub- 

 tidal to a few meters. We collected this species at nine 

 stations between central New Jersey and Cape Hatteras 

 (Fig. 22). Synchelidium americanum occurred between 

 14 and 39 m on sand (6/9) and shelly sand (3/9) sedi- 

 ments, and was rare at all stations (2-9/m2). 



Family PHOXOCEPHALmAE 



Harpinia abyaai G. O. Sars 1885 



This species has previously been collected in the 

 Norwegian Sea and east and west of Greenland between 



400 and 2,700 m (Barnard 1960). Harpinia abyssi oc- 

 curred at a single station east of New Jersey in 2,590 m 

 on a silt bottom (Fig. 23). This record seems to be the 

 first occurrence of this species off the North Atlantic 

 mainland. 



Harpinia antenncuia Meinert 1893 



This species has previously been reported from 

 Norway, Icelamd, British Isles, and Greenland (Bcunard 



1960). In our Middle Atlantic Bight samples, H. anten- 

 naria occurred in 14 samples from 11 stations dis- 

 tributed along the continental slope between Long 

 Island and Norfolk, Va. (Fig. 23). The density of H. 

 antennaria was uniformly low (2-30/m^) at these bathy- 

 al stations. The depth range of this species in our collec- 

 tions was 125-1,550 m, but the majority of the samples 

 (9/14) occurred between 300 and 500 m. These collec- 

 tions came from sand (1/14), silty sand (6/14), silt (5/14), 

 and clay (2/14) bottoms. These records constitute a 

 southern range extension for this species along the 

 North American Atlantic coast. 



Harpinia propinqua G. O. Sars 1895 



Geographic Distribution. This amphi-Atlantic species 

 has previously been recorded as far south as Cape Cod 

 Bay along the east coast of North America (Bousfield 

 1973). We collected H. propinqua in 121 samples from 86 

 stations between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras (Fig. 23). 

 These records extend the remge of this species to Cape 

 Hatteras. This species has a mean density of 20/m2, 

 ranging between 2/m^ and 170/m^ 



Bathymetric Distribution. Harpinia propinqua has 

 been rep)orted between 10 and 1,100 m (Barnard 1960). 

 In our Middle Atlantic Bight samples, it occurred 



39 



