meter in June 1977, 
to zero (Fig. 27). 
until the onset of nourishment when the population fell 
This pattern may be misleading in that 5S. squamata was the 
only organism found in a nourished zone during the nourishment process. The 
absence of the worm at the onset of nourishment may have been due to normal 
seasonal variation in relative abundance rather than to the impact of nourish- 
ment. 
120 
100 
NUMBER PER m? 
Figure 27. 
536 
224 
\ 
— FORT MACON 
-- NOURISHMENT 
Seasonal variation in the density of 5S. squamata at 
the nourishment beach at Fort Macon, June 1977 to 
August 1978. Very few S. squamata were found at 
Emerald Isle. The actual period of nourishment is 
represented by a slashed line below the X-axis. 
Little is known about the ecology of this worm; however, previous studies 
have reported worms to be the first organisms to recolonize sites of dredged 
spoil disposal. 
Stone (1972) reported the polychaete Wephtys tnctsa as the 
first colonizer of spoil banks in the lower Chesapeake; Pfitzenmeyer (1970), 
while reporting a 71 percent reduction in the total number of individuals other 
than polychaetes due to a disposal project in the upper Chesapeake Bay, noted 
that the first colonizers of this material were S. viridis. 
e. 
Other Intertidal Organisms. A variety of other intertidal organisms 
was found on both beaches during the study; however, their occurrences were 
infrequent and their numbers were low. The talitrid amphipod, 7. megalopthaima, 
47 
