Family PLICATULIDAE 

 Genus Plicatula Lamarck 1801 



Plicatula gibbosa Lamarck 1801. Kitten's paw. Figure 91. 



The kitten's paw is distributed from North Carolina into the 

 Gulf States and the West Indies; it also occurs at Bermuda and 

 at Brazil (Johnson 1934; Morris 1973; Abbott 1968. 1974; 

 Emerson et al. 1976). 



Plicatula gibbosa is a common bivalve of which there are 

 six specimens from four samples in our collection (Table 5). 



Our samples are from the continental shelf with a series of 

 samples off the North Carolina coast and another series off 

 the northern and middle sections of Florida (Fig. 91 ; Theroux 

 and Wigley footnote 4. table 158). 



Depths at which kitten's paws are found range from the 

 intertidal zone to approximately 140 m (Abbott 1968. 1974; 

 Porter 1974). 



The depth range for our samples is from 12 to 74 m with a 

 mean of 37 m. The 0-24. the 25-49, and the 50-99 m depth range 

 groupings each contain 33% of the specimens: however, in 

 terms of sample distribution, 50% are in the 25-49 m grouping 

 and 25% in each of the other two (Table 122). 



Sediment types at sampling sites yielding specimens of 

 kitten's paw were sand-shell and sand, with 75% of the sam- 

 ples and 83% of the specimens occurring in sand-shell, and 

 25% of the former and 17% of the latter in sand (Table 123). 



Family SPONDYLIDAE 

 Genus Spondylus Linne 1758 



Spondylus sp. Figure 102. 



There is one sample in the NEFC collection which contains 

 two specimens of bivalves classified as Spondxlas sp. (Table 

 5). 



The sample containing Spondylus sp. is from the continen- 

 tal shelf north of Miami Beach, Fla. (Fig. 102; Theroux and 

 Wigley footnote 4. table 182). 



The water depth at the sampling site was 28 m which places 

 it in the 25-49 m depth range grouping, and the bottom sedi- 

 ment type was sand. 



Family ANOMIIDAE 

 Genus Anomia Linne 1758. 



Anomia simplex Orbigny 1842. Common jingle shell. Figure 5. 



In the northwest Atlantic it occurs from Newfoundland to 

 Florida; it is also found along the Gulf States, at Bermuda, the 

 West Indies, and ranges into the Caribbean and to Cuba and 

 Brazil (Johnson 1934; Morris 1951, 1973; La Rocque 1953; 

 Ockelmann 1958; Abbott 1968, 1974: Emerson et al. 1976). 



This small, very common bivalve occurs in nearly 3% of our 

 samples and represents 10% of all specimens in our collection 

 (Table 5). 



The majority of our samples are in the Gulf of Maine- 

 Georges Bank region on the continental shelf and slope. Sam- 

 ple density decreased rapidly with decreasing latitude south 

 of Cape Cod, Mass., becoming sparse in the Middle Atlantic 

 Bight shelf region. Only three samples south of Delaware Bay 

 contained specimens (Fig. 5; Theroux and Wigley footnote 4, 

 table 8). 



The main distribution is Boreal, Virginian, Carolinian, and 

 Caribbean in American waters, and Celtic in Europe for the 

 genus and family (Coomans 1962); Gosner (1971) listed it as 

 Boreal and Virginian, while Dance ( 1974) assigned it a Trans- 

 atlantic and Caribbean distribution. 



The common jingle shell has been reported from shallow, 

 inshore waters (Abbott 1968; Morris 1973) to moderately deep 

 (183 m) water (Gosner 1971). 



The samples in our collection range in depth from to 549 m 

 with a mean of 120 m. The majority of samples (47%) and 

 specimens (70%) are in the 50-99 m depth range grouping; 

 abundance of both samples and specimens diminishes with 

 increasing and decreasing depth range beyond this grouping 

 (Table 124). 



Specimens of A. simplex occurred in all sediment types 

 considered in this report, usually attached to rocks, gravel, 

 shells, or other debris. The majority of samples (33%) oc- 

 curred in sand but significant amounts also occurred in the 

 harder substrates; sand-gravel, gravel, and till (20. 14. and 

 13%, respectively): other sediment types contained 8% or less 

 of the samples. Thirty-eight percent of the specimens occur- 

 red in sand, 31% in sand-gravel, and 17% in gravel. Each of 

 the remaining sediment types contained 5% or less of the 

 specimens (Table 125). There are 76 samples containing 1,902 

 specimens which are unclassified with regard to sediment 

 type. 



Anomia squamula Linne 1758. Prickly jingle shell. Figure 6. 



Anomia squamula is widely distributed throughout the 

 Arctic and subarctic regions. Johnson (1934), La Rocque 

 (1953), Abbott (1968, 1974), and Emerson et al. (1976) all 

 listed it as occurring from Labrador to North Carolina: in 

 addition La Rocque (1953) reported it from Denmark, and 

 Abbott recorded it from North Europe. Ockelmann (1958) 

 showed this species to be distributed from Newfoundland to 

 Cape Cod on the North American continental shelf and from 

 the Parry Islands to and including Labrador; he also reported 

 it as occurring around Iceland, north and south Norway, 

 including Lofoten and the Faroes. Clarke's (1962) distribu- 

 tional records include: Labrador. Newfoundland. North 

 America. North Eurasia, Norway, and Western Europe. 

 Morris ( 1973) reported it to occur from Maine to North Caro- 

 lina. 



This small, common bivalve occurs in nearly 3% of our 

 samples representing nearly 4% of all specimens in our collec- 

 tion (Table 5). 



Our samples are, for the most part, confined to the northern 

 sector of the study area including the Scotian Shelf, the Gulf 

 of Maine, and Georges Bank down to the Nantucket Shoals 

 region; there are three samples below Cape Cod. one in 

 Narragansett Bay, and the others on the continental shelf off 

 Long Island, N.Y. (Fig. 6; Theroux and Wigley footnote 4. 

 table 9). 



The main distribution for this species is Boreal. Virginian, 

 and Celtic (Coomans 1962). 



Reported depths for this species range from to 2.002 m 

 (Johnson 1934; Clarke 1962). 



Our samples range in depth from 13 to 549 m with a mean of 

 128 m. The majority of samples (75%) and specimens (69%) 

 occupy mid to outer continental shelf depths between 50 and 

 200 m. A substantially smaller number of samples and speci- 

 mens are in other depth ranges groupings (Table 126). 



23 



