Astarte montagui (Dillwyn 1817). Montagu's astarte. Figure 13. 



This species occurs in Arctic seas and from Greenland to 

 Massachusetts in the Atlantic; it also ranges from the Bering 

 Sea to British Columbia in the Pacific (Johnson 1934; La 

 Rocque 1953; Morris 1973; Abbott 1974). The distribution in 

 Arctic regions as outlined by Ockelmann (1958) and Tebble 

 (1966) show it occurring very widely throughout the area as 

 well as ranging to the Aleutians, Queen Charlotte Islands, 

 Massachusetts Bay, Denmark, the Western Baltic, and the 

 Bay of Biscay to the south. 



This small (12 to 19 mm) member of the genus Astarte, 

 considered abundant by Abbott (1974), is represented by only 

 two specimens from one sample in our collection (Table 5). 



The sample in our collection is from the Bigelow Bight off 

 the coast of Maine northeast of Portland (Fig. 13; Theroux 

 and Wigley footnote 4, table 20). 



Zoogeographic distribution is panarctic-boreal and cir- 

 cumpolar (Ockelmann 1958); Gosner (1971) listed it as Boreal, 

 and Dance (1974) referred to it as occupying the Boreal. 

 Arctic, and Aleutian provinces. 



Published records show this species to range from to 445 

 m in depth (Ockelmann 1958; Abbott 1974). 



Our sample is from 79 m depth. 



Tebble (1966) listed Montagu's astarte as being found in 

 clean sand, and in muddy and sandy gravel. Our sample is 

 from a till bottom. 



Astarte nana Dall 1886. Southern dwarf astarte. Figure 13. 



The range of this species is from Cape Hatteras, N.C.. to 

 Florida, the Gulf States, and the West Indies (Johnson 1934: 

 Abbott 1974). 



The southern dwarf astarte is reported to be very abundant 

 especially off eastern Florida (Abbott 1974). The NEFC col- 

 lection contains 4 samples with a total of 18 specimens (Table 

 5). 



Our samples range from south of Cape Hatteras to slightly 

 south of Miami, Fla. (Fig. 13: Theroux and Wigley footnote 4, 

 table 21). 



The published depth range for this species is 1 1 to 824 m 

 (Johnson 1934; Abbott 1974; Porter 1974). 



Our samples range from 248 to 765 m with a mean of 552 m. 

 The 200-499 and 500-999 m depth range groupings each con- 

 tain 50% of the samples and 33 and 67% of the specimens, 

 respectively (Table 184). 



Our samples were found in sand, silty sand, and silt sub- 

 strates (Table 185). 



Astarte quadrans Gould 1841. Figure 14. 



This species occurs from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Long 

 Island Sound (Johnson 1934; La Rocque 1953: Abbott 1974): 

 Ockelmann (1958) listed its distribution from Newfoundland 

 to Cape Cod. 



The NEFC collection contains 48 specimens of A. quad- 

 rans from 28 samples (Table 5). 



Our samples occur on the Scotian Shelf, in the Gulf of 

 Maine, on outer Georges Bank and on the Middle Atlantic 

 Bight continental shelf south to off Chesapeake Bay (Fig. 14; 

 Theroux and Wigley footnote 4. table 22 1. 



Coomans (1962) listed this species as occupying the Boreal 

 and Virginian provinces, while Gosner (1971) assigned it to 

 Boreal regions. 



The published depth distribution of A. quadrans ranges 

 from 1 1 to 73 m (Abbott 1974). 



Samples in the NEFC collection range from 22 to 188 m 

 with a mean of 55 m. The majority of our samples and speci- 

 mens occur in two depth range groupings: 1) 50-99 m, and 2) 

 25-49 m, the former contains 46 and 56% of the samples and 

 specimens, respectively, and the latter 32 and 23%, respec- 

 tively, smaller amounts occur in the 0-24 and 100-199 m 

 groupings (Table 186). 



The majority of samples (69%) and specimens (80%) of this 

 species occurred in sand sediments, while 19 and 13% of 

 samples and specimens, respectively, occurred in sand- 

 gravel; smaller amounts were obtained in till and sand-shell 

 sediments (Table 187). There are two samples containing two 

 specimens which are unclassified with regard to sediment 

 type. 



Astarte smithii Dall 1886. Smith's astarte. Figure 14. 



Smith's astarte occurs from the Gulf of Mexico to the West 

 Indies and in the Caribbean (Johnson 1934; Clarke 1962; 

 Abbott 1974). 



Our collection contains two samples from one sampling 

 site, providing three specimens of A. smithii (Table 5). 



Our samples are from off the Florida coast southeast of 

 Jacksonville (Fig. 14; Theroux and Wigley footnote 4, table 

 23). 



Depth range for this species according to the above three 

 authors is 99 to 2,869 m. Our samples are from 455 m depth. 

 This depth places it in the 200-499 m depth range grouping. 



The substrate at the site of our samples was silt. 



Astarte undata Gould 1841. Waved astarte. Figure 15. 



Widely distributed on the continental shelf and upper con- 

 tinental slope of the northwest Atlantic, it ranges from West 

 Greenland and arctic Canada to cold, deep waters south of 

 Cape Hatteras, N.C. (Johnson 1934; Morris 1951, 1973; La 

 Rocque 1953; Ockelmann 1958; Emerson et al. 1976). 



"Probably the most common Astarte of New England" 

 (Abbott 1974). The waved astarte occurs in 4.3% of our sam- 

 ples and composes 4.3% of the specimens (Table 5). 



Samples in the NEFC collection range from southern Nova 

 Scotia, the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, southern New 

 England shelf, Middle Atlantic Bight, to deep water off Che- 

 sapeake Bay; three samples occur at the continental shelf 

 break south of Cape Hatteras, N.C. (Fig. 15; Theroux and 

 Wigley footnote 4, table 24). 



The waved astarte inhabits the Arctic, Boreal, and Virgi- 

 nian provinces (Coomans 1962); Gosner (1971) listed it as 

 Boreal, and Dance (1974) as Boreal and Transatlantic. 



Reported water depths for this species range from below, 

 but near, the tide mark (Abbott 1968) to 190 m (Porter 1974). 



Our samples range in depth from 15 to 720 m with a mean 

 depth of 96 m. Fifty-five percent of the samples and 59% of the 

 specimens are from mid-shelf depths (50-99 m). Abundance of 

 samples and specimens outside of this range diminish with 

 increasing and decreasing depth range (Table 188). 



34 



