8.0 EPIBENTHIC INVERTEBRATES 



by Paul Ferreira, Jr., Kenneth Simon and Andrew fIcCusker 



Normandeau Associates, Inc. 



Bedford, N. H. 



INTRODUCTION 



Analysis of the invertebrate fauna collected as part of the 

 demersal finfish trawling program supplied information on a segment of 

 the benthic community that was not sampled in other monitoring programs. 

 The mobility and relatively large size of most epibenthic invertebrate 

 species are the prime reasons why they were not collected by other 

 benthic sampling methods. Due in a large part to their mobility, 

 epibenthic species sampled by trawling can be characterized by consider- 

 able spatial and temporal variability. Changes in distribution can, 

 however, be related to seasonal movements, avoidance of environmental 

 perturbations or stressful conditions, or attraction to a particular 

 event or area. Monitoring of epibenthic species populations provides a 

 data base to aid in detecting any major distributional or abundance 

 changes that could be related to the New Haven Harbor Station operation. 



This report provides a comprehensive description of the New 

 Haven Harbor epibenthic invertebrate community and assesses the impact 

 of operation of the New Haven Harbor Station based on a review of all 

 information available from the NHHSEMS data base. Six of the most 

 commonly encountered invertebrate species are discussed in detail. 



METHODS 



Epibenthic sampling, designed for evaluation of epibenthic in- 

 vertebrates and demersal fish populations , was conducted monthly at 

 Stations 5, 8, 11, 13, 19 and 20 (Figure 8-1). Station 5, located at 

 the shoal area midway between Long Wharf and the City Point sewer outfall, 

 was established to supply data concerning the inner harbor epifaunal 



8-1 



