Sediment Relationship. Bouafield (1973) reported that 

 S. inermis is epibenthic on finer sediments. We found 

 this species on sand-gravel (1/25), sand (17/25), silty 

 sand (4/25), and silt-clay (3/25) bottoms. 



Family PODOCERIDAE 



Dyopedoa monacantha (Metzger) 1875 



Geographic Distribution. This caprellid-like gammari- 

 dean has been recorded across the boreal regions of the 

 North Atlantic and has previously been collected as far 

 south as Cape Cod Bay (Laubitz 1977). Our collections 

 of D. monacantha from Cape Cod to Cape Charles ex- 

 tend its range to the south (Fig. 26). This species oc- 

 curred in 27 samples from 25 stations with a mean den- 

 sity of 30/m^ ranging from 2/m^ to 290/m-'. The station 

 with the highest density occurred in Vineyard Sound 

 which is an area of strong currents, which correlates well 

 with the filter-feeding habits of D. monacantha. 



Bathymetric Distribution. According to Laubitz 

 (1977), this species has been collected between 20 and 

 320 m. Our records of D. monacantha occurred between 

 18 and 89 m with the highest mean density (80/m^) 

 between 20 and 29 m (Table 51). 



Table 51.— Batb>inctric distribution of Dyopedoi 

 monaeanllia in sample* from Middle Atlantic Bight. 



Sediment Relationship. According to Ejiequist (1949), 

 D. monacantha is usually found clinging to algae, 

 hydroids, and bryozoans. In our collections, D. 

 monacantha occurred on bottom types ranging from 

 sand-gravel to silt-clay (Table 52). The largest numbers 

 of samples (6-16/27) and the highest mean densities 

 (40/m^) occurred on sand-gravel and sand sediments. 



Family STENOTHOroAE 



MetopeUa angiuta Shoemaker 1949 



According to Bousfield (1973), this cold-water species 

 occurs from the Bay of Fundy to New Jersey on fine sedi- 



P 



BOSTON 



i^> •* i^ 



y 



Figure 26.— Geographic diatribution of apeciea from the families Podoceridae, Stenothoidae, and Synopiidae in the 



Middle Atlantic Bight. 



44 



