side of its southern sill, and two similar mounts at 

 either end of the northern sill) account for some gross 

 differences. Its sediments are more diversified and have 

 many rubbly slopes. In their deeper parts these slopes 

 have associations of glass sponge which are sparse or 

 lacking in Santa Monica Bay except in scattered patches 

 along the outer slopes of Santa Monica Canyon, The 

 shallower submerged slopes, continuous with the Palos 

 Verdes Hills, have an unusually diversified and abundant 

 benthonic fauna which in amount is unparalleled in any 

 other area of southern California, Although the specific 

 categories occur in other regions where currents prevail, 

 their quantities are much diminished. 



The sea floor of Santa Monica Bay is divisible into 

 six faunal zones, numbered I to VI (May 7, 1956 report, 

 p. 13), Zone I refers to the broad, shallow shelf 

 extending west from Hyperion; II refers to the shallow 

 triangular area between Redondo and Palos Verdes Hills, 

 and west to the outer end of Redondo Canyon; III refers 

 to the northern shelf of Santa Monica Bay to depths of 

 330 fathoms; IV refers to Santa Monica Canyon, and V 

 refers to Redondo Canyon, In Figure 1 is shown their 

 locations and the serial arabic numbers for zones III, 

 IV, and V, Those for zone I are more completely detailed 

 in Figure 2, 



The shallower bottoms of Santa Monica Bay are populated 

 mainly by animals existing within the sediments which 



