was fairly uniform. The average number of species collected per 

 station on a transect over the 12-month sampling period varied from 

 8.4 to 10. The similarity of animal distribution and abundance is 

 further reflected in the distribution of the 14 most abundant species. 

 The accumulative total percentage these 14 species contributed to each 

 of the nine transects varied from 90 to 95.9 percent. 



Plug samples were taken to a depth of 23 centimeters and were 

 divided into a top and bottom part. Sixty-six species, (36.9 percent) 

 occurred only in the top 11.5-centimeter part of the samples; 19 

 species (10.6 percent) were present only in the bottom 11.5-centimeter 

 part of the sample. The species that occurred only in the bottom part 

 were represented by one or two individuals per species. The percentage 

 of the total individuals occurring in the top 11.5-centimeter part of 

 the sample was 75 percent. Species found most abundantly in the top 

 11.5-centimeter part of the sample were D. texasianus, S. pettiboneae 3 

 Manooowna sp., and E. talpoida. 



The number of individuals per square meter fluctuated seasonally, 

 with the months of May and June having the highest abundance of 

 individuals. The average number of individuals from all stations was 

 2,744 per square meter, and the range at individual stations was from 

 48 to 35,504. The average number of individuals per square meter was 

 lowest at station 3 and highest at station B. 



There was a general trend of increasing diversity indexes seaward 

 from station 1 . The range of indexes at individual stations fluctuated 

 from 0.000 to 3.141. The average index for all stations was 1.245. 

 The average diversity indexes on each of the nine transects were 

 approximately the same. Seasonally, the highest index (greatest 

 diversity) occurred in August and the lowest in the colder months. 



The scarcity of previous knowledge of the benthic fauna in this 

 nearshore zone is indicated by the number of new species found in 

 this study. Twenty-one invertebrate species (12 percent of all 

 species) are possibly new. Fifteen of the 21 are amphipods, and 4 of 

 these (Acanthohaustorius n. sp., Haustorius n. sp., Protohaustovius 

 n. sp., and Pseudohaustorius n. sp.) are among the most abundant 

 species occurring in the nearshore zone. In the other major taxa, 

 there are possibly three new species of oligochaetes, two cumaceans, 

 and one pelecypod. 



The correlation of animal abundance to selected sedimentological 

 parameters was low, indicating an abundance and distribution of 

 benthic animals not directly related to sedimentological factors. 

 This was also related to the relative uniformity of the sediments. 



114 



