Logan, A. (1998). A sublittoral hard substrate epibenthic community below 30 m in Head Harbour Passage, New Brunswick, Canada. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 27: 445-459.
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Logan, A.
1998
A sublittoral hard substrate epibenthic community below 30 m in Head Harbour Passage, New Brunswick, Canada
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
27: 445-459
Publication
A sublittoral hard substrate epibenthic community has been photographically sampled mainly between depths of 30 and 140 m along two transects in Head Harbour Passage, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. A diverse biota of sponges, hydroids, anemones, polychaetes, brachiopods, molluscs, arthropods, echinoderms and tunicates is present throughout the depth range, but is dominated, in terms of abundance, by tubularian and campanularian hydroids, the anemone Tealia felina and the bivalve Modiolus modiolus. Cluster analysis revealed 5 sbd 6 clusters from each transect, separable on the basis of minor biological, as well as abundance, differences in the main taxa, within the depth range sampled. Abundance-depth data from each transect indicate an absence of encrusting coralline algae below 30 m and a gradual reduction in abundance of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and the brachiopod Terebratulina septentrionalis with increasing depth. In contrast, there is a gradual, but significant, increase in the abundance of tubularian hydroids, Tealia felina and Modiolus modiolus, with increasing depth. This community below about 30 m in Head Harbour Passage is here designated the Tubularia sbd Tealia felina sbd Modiolus modiolus community and forms part of the circalittoral subzone, sharing a gradational boundary with the overlying Terebratulina septentrionalis community.Descriptors: TUBULARIA
