This report is the first to describe quantitatively the benthic 



macroinvertebrates of this nearshore area. Included in the list of 



animals are several new species, some of which comprise a significant 

 part of the fauna (Table 15) . 



The benthic fauna of the nearshore zone of the Gulf of Mexico off 

 Panama City Beach, Florida, is practically unknown. Hulings (1961) 

 listed 53 species of barnacles and decapod crustaceans collected on 

 one transect perpendicular to the beach with trawls, scallop dredges, 

 and aqualung diving. Salsman and Tolbert (1965) made observations on 

 the populations of the sand dollar, Mellita quinquiesperforata. In 

 waters adjacent to the nearshore zone, Culpepper and Pequegnat (1969) 

 studied the gammarid amphipods on artificial substrates, and Little 

 (1963) surveyed the sponge fauna offshore of Panama City. 



The ostracods were examined from the Panama City area by Puri and 

 Hulings (1957) and from St. Andrew Bay by Waller (1961). The plankton 

 of St. Andrew Bay was reported by Hopkins (1966). 



The fish fauna of the Panama City area has been reported by 

 Caldwell (1959), Allison (1961), Vick (1964), Haburay, Crooke, and 

 Hastings (1969), Klima and Wickham (1971), Hastings (1972), Wickham, 

 Watson, and Ogren (1973), and Ogren (1975). 



2. Methods . 



The benthic fauna was sampled with a stainless steel plug sampler 

 (Fig. 2p that covers an area 1/64 square meter and penetrates to a 

 depth of 23 centimeters. It has handles for ease in handling, and 

 the top is covered with a stainless steel mesh (0.701 square milli- 

 meter) . In operation the plug sampler is pushed into the bottom, the 

 substrate on one side is removed by hand, and the sampler is tilted and 

 lifted out with a hand covering the bottom. In water depths greater 

 than 4 feet (1.2 meters), the sampler is pushed in by a diver and 

 removed as previously stated. During ascent, the open end is securely 

 held against the diver's body to prevent sample loss. 



Four plug samples were taken at each station. Samples collected 

 on the beach were extruded into pans, divided into equal top and 

 bottom parts (Fig. 22), placed in a stainless steel sieve (Fig. 21) 

 with a mesh of 0.701 square millimeter, and sieved. The remnant part 

 in the sieve was stained with Rose Bengal and preserved in 10-percent 

 Formal in- seawater solution. Samples collected offshore at stations 

 2 to 5 were placed in a large metal tab insiae an inner tube (Fig. 23). 

 The samples were brought to shore and processed as previously stated. 

 At stations A and B, an outboard motorboat was used as the sampling 

 platform and the samples were processed identically. 



47 



