individuals. The polychaete, S. pettiboneae, was fifth in abundance 

 representing 7 percent of the total individuals (Table 22) . 



Polychaeta was the most diverse animal taxon with 34 species. The 

 other major taxa with numerous species were Amphipoda, Pelecypoda, 

 Gastropoda, and Brachyura with eight, eight, six, and six species, 

 respectively. Thirteen of the major taxa were represented by a single 

 species (Table 22) . The dominant species of polychaetes were 

 represented by four species, accounting for 83 percent of the polychaete 

 individuals. These species in decreasing order of abundance were 

 S. pettiboneae, Magelona viojai, Bravia olavata, and P. fulgens. Six 

 of the eight amphipod species were new species; collectively, they 

 accounted for 98.8 percent of the amphipods and 58 percent of the 

 total individuals at station 5. The dominant pelecypod was Emilia 

 ooncentvioa which accounted for 74.7 percent of the bivalves (Table 

 22). This was the first station where the lancelet, B. floridae, 

 became a major species in the total speeies composition. 



Seasonally, the numbers of individuals increased from November 

 through August. The dominant animals in August were the three new 

 species of amphipods. August was also the month with the highest 

 number of species. The 62 species at station 5 in August was the 

 highest for any of the five stations located on the transects. The 

 lowest number of species occurred during February (Table 22) . 



(6) Station A . Station A was located in 30 feet of water off 

 transect 5 (Fig. 11). It was sampled quarterly and produced 76 

 macroinvertebrate species and 2 species of fish. Station A had the 

 second highest average number of individuals per sample (Table 16) . 

 Unlike the stations located on transects, a particular species was not 

 dominant. The polychaete, Prionospio ovistata, was the most abundant 

 species but comprised only 15.3 percent of the total individuals. 

 Polychaeta were the dominant animal taxon with 37 species and 43.3 

 percent of the total individuals. Other species with more than 50 

 individuals were the lancelet, B. flovidae, and an amphipod, Pvoto- 

 haustovius n. sp. (Table 23) . 



The number of individuals was highest in May and lowest in November. 

 Numbers of species increased from November through August (Table 23) . 



(7) Station B . Station B was located in 30 feet of water off 

 transect 8 (Fig. 11). It was sampled quarterly and produced 70 species 

 of macroinvertebrates and 1 species of fish. This station had the 

 highest average of individuals per sample (Table 16) . Station B was 

 similar to station A in regards to species dominance. The most 

 abundant species was P. ovistata which comprised 18.1 percent of the 

 total individuals. Second to P. ovistata in abundance was the lancelet, 



72 



