Table I.— Continued. 



Taxonomic group 







Sediment organic 



level 





Sediment 



type 







Very 

 coarse- 

 coarse 



sand 



Medium 

 sand 



Fine- 

 very 

 fine 

 sand 



Coarse- 



Depth (m 



High 



>5% 



Medium 

 3-5% 



Low 

 <3% 



medium 



0-24 25 



-49 



silt 



810 















810 







140 



670 







280 



450 



20 



80 



630 



180 



190 



360 







640 



10 











650 



60 



280 



310 







920 















920 







370 



550 







520 















520 



70 



240 



210 











330 



290 







40 







10 



60 



260 



350 



60 







30 



380 



10 



160 



240 







Order Amphipoda 

 Ampelisca verri/li 

 Unciola irrorala 

 Pseudunciola obliquua 

 Protohauswrius deichmannae 

 Protohaustorius wigleyi 

 Leptocheirus pinguis 

 Rhepoxynius epistomus 



Order Mysidacea 

 Neomysis americana 



Order Decapoda 



Crangon septemspinosa 

 Cancer irroratus 



Phylum Echinodermata 



Class Echinoidea 

 Echinarachnius parma 



200 



50 



140 



160 



40 







20 



180 



20 



70 



110 







200 



210 



30 



90 



290 



60 



130 



210 



10 



350 



310 











660 



20 



240 



400 







350 



310 











660 



20 



240 



400 







350 



310 











660 



20 



240 



400 







REPRODUCTION AND GROWTH: The Cerianthidae are pro- 

 tandrous hermaphrodites. The young sea anemone lives as a cili- 

 ated ball, unattached and free-swimming. During the Edwardsia 

 stage, the larva usually settles and attaches to a variety of surfaces, 

 develops tentacles, and adopts a benthic existence (Barnes 1963; 

 Gosnerl971). 



V 



40 30 



v; 



/ I 2 6 o\ i 



/ ,-t _ / \ 



--" it V v 



If I /A 70 Afi' 



1 1340/ ' / 



I 



6>, \ fli 



i l\i 



/ I l\ x 



S /wo] \\ 



10 1 



I 

 I 



Uo°20' 



\ \ 



1 



\1 



~J l-99/m ! 



~j 100-349/™? 



4010' 



7340' 

 I 



Hyman (1940) stated that the life span of species of Cerianthus 

 could range from 10 to 40 yr. Attempts at determining growth rates 

 in the New York Bight apex have been unsuccessful (Fallon). 5 



Phylum Phoronida 



Phoronis architecta (Andrews, 1890) 



DESCRIPTION: Slender, flesh colored, wormlike tube dwell- 

 ers; adults reach 50 mm in length. No annulations or setae present 

 on the body; at the anterior end, the lophophore, two parallel 

 horseshoe-shaped ridges, bears tentacles and a central mouth. The 

 cylindrical, straight tube, more than twice as long as the worm 

 itself, is produced as a chitinous secretion, and, being intially 

 sticky, becomes covered with sand (Gosner 1971). Emig (1969. 

 1971) has synonymized Phoronis architecta with Phoronis psam- 

 mophila Cori, but this synonomy has been the subject of debate. A 

 count of longitudinal muscle bundles is the only method of posi- 

 tively separating P. architecta from P. psammophila (Paine 1961 ). 



DISTRIBUTION: Both coasts of North America (Emig 1969); 

 Florida Gulf coast to Biscayne Bay (Paine 1961); Gulf of Mexico 

 (Louisiana and Texas) (Hedgpeth 1954). 



HABITAT: Gosner (1971) reported the species as being found on 

 sandy substrata from the lower littoral to depths of at least 18 m. 

 Stancyket al. (1976) stated that P. architecta occurred from sand to 

 mud, from the intertidal to depths of 4 m. Wass (1972) reported 

 densities of 90 individuals/m : in Chesapeake Bay. He also reported 

 their occurrence in polyhaline waters with salinities as low as 18% . 

 Boesch (1973), however, believed P. architecta may occur in much 

 higher densities than reported by Wass (1972) in Chesapeake Bay. 



In the New York Bight apex, P. architecta occurred in depths 

 ranging from 17 to 37 m. The species was collected from all sedi- 

 ment types but was most common in fine-sand, high organic areas, 

 where densities reached 290 individuals/m : (Fig. 14: Table 1). 



Figure 13.— Distribution and abundance of Ceriantheopsis americanus in the 

 New York Bight apex. 



5 Phillip Fallon, Equitable Environmental Health. 333 Crossways Park Drive. 

 Woodbury, NY 1 1797, pers. commun. April 1979. 



