Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Benthic invertebrate assemblages of Delaware Bay

  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

During two consecutive summers, the first quantitative bay-wide survey (207 stations) of benthic invertebrates was conducted in Delaware Bay (USA). In 1972, 109 species were collected at 105 stations; and in 1973, 125 species were collected at 102 stations. A total of 169 different species were collected for both summers. The number of species and number of individuals increased with increasing salinity and increasing median grain size. These relationships were compared and were found similar to those in estuaries and bays throughout the world. Average density was 722 individuals m2, which is low compared to other estuaries. The relationship of low secondary production to pollution, macroscopic algae, sediment transport, predation, and hydrography is discussed. Deposit feeders comparised the major feeding type. Local species composition was similar to that in Chesapeake Bay, and dominant species occurred in estuaries throughout the Mid-Atlantic Bight. The benthic invertebrates of Delaware Bay were related to the cosmopolitan mode of estuarine faunas. Faunal assemblages were identified by cluster analysis. The assemblages were associated with sediment type and salinity. It was concluded that Delaware Bay comprises a mosaic of animal assemblages, some of which have relatively sharp boundaries similar to classical level bottom type communities, whereas the boundaries of others are almost impossible to detect, and these represent species distributed along an environmental continum.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Abbott, R.T.: American seashells, 2nd ed. 633 pp. New York: Von Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1974

    Google Scholar 

  • Bader, R.G.: The role of organic matter in determining the distribution of pelecypods in marine sediments. J. mar. Res. 13, 32–47 (1954)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, S.A., J.L. Simon and V.D. Hunter: Animalsediment relations and community analysis of a Florida estuary. Mar. Biol. 13, 43–56 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, D.F.: Classification and community structure of macrobenthos in the Hampton Roads area, Virginia. Mar. Biol. 21, 226–244 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bousfield, E.L.: Adaptive radiation in sandburrowing amphipod crustaceans. Chesapeake Sci. 11, 143–154 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A.C.: Food relationships on the intertidal sandy beaches of the Cape Peninsula. S. Afr. J. Sci. 60, 35–41 (1964)

    Google Scholar 

  • Carriker, M.R.: Observations on the penetration of tightly closing bivalves by Busycon and other predators. Ecology 32, 73–83 (1951)

    Google Scholar 

  • —: Ecology of estuarine invertebrates: a perspective. In: Estuaries, pp 442–487. Ed. by G.H. Lauff. Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science 1967. (Publs Am. Ass. Advmt Sci. No. 83)

    Google Scholar 

  • Christie, N.D.: A numerical analysis of the distribution of a shallow sublittoral sand macrofauna along a transect at Lamberts Bay, South Africa. Trans. R. Soc. S. Afr. 42, 149–172 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Clifford, H.T. and W. Stephenson: An introduction to numerical classification, 229 pp. New York: Academic Press 1975

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, L.E.: The role of man in estuarine processes. In: Estuaries, pp 667–689. Ed. by G.H. Lauff. Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science 1967. (Publs Am. Ass. Advmt Sci. No. 83)

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, J.H.: The ecology of Morrumbene Estuary, Mocambique. Trans. R. Soc. S. Afr. 41, 43–97 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fager, E.W.: Communities of organisms. In: The sea. Vol. 2. pp 415–437. Ed. by M.N. Hill. New York: Interscience Publishers 1963

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, J.G.: A humerical analysis of changes in the soft-bottom fauna along a transect across False Bay, South Africa. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 7, 215–253 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Folk, R.L.: Petrology of sedimentary rocks, 170 pp. Austin, Texas: Hemphill's 1968

    Google Scholar 

  • Gage, J.: A preliminary survey of the benthic macrofauna and sediments in Lochs Etive and Creran, sea-lochs along the West Coast of Scotland. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 52, 237–276 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • —: Shallow-water zonation of sea-loch benthos and its relation to hydrographic and other physical features. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 54, 223–249 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Glemarec, G.: The benthic communities of the European North Atlantic continental shelf. Oceanogr. mar. Biol. A. Rev. 11, 263–284 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hampson, G.R.: A species pair of the genus Nucula (Bivalvia) from the eastern coast of the United States. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 39, 333–341 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, W. and M.L. Wass: Frequencies of infaunal invertebrates related to water content of Chesapeake Bay sediments. SEast. Geol. 6, 177–187 (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  • Haskin, H.H. and S. Tweed: Oyster setting and early spat survival at critical salinity levels on natural seed oyster beds of Delaware Bay, 67 pp. Water Resources Research Institute, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 1976. (Internal publication)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedgpeth, J.W. (Ed.): Treatise on ecology and paleoecology. Vol. 1. Ecology 1296 pp. New York: Geological Society of America 1957. (Mem. geol. Soc. Am. No. 67)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hidu, H. and H.H. Haskin: Setting of the American oyster related to environmental factors and larval behavior. Proc. natn. Shellfish. Ass. 61, 35–50 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, R.G.: Particulate matter at the sediment-water interface in coastal environments. J. mar. Res. 32, 313–330 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinner, P. and D. Maurer: Polychaetous annelids of the Delaware Bay area. Fish. Bull. U.S. (In press)

  • —— and W. Leathem: Benthic invertebrates in Delaware Bay: animal-sediment associations of the dominant species. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 59, 685–701 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraft, J.C.: Sedimentary facies patterns and geologic history of a Holocene marine transgression. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 82, 2131–2158 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Leathem, W. and D. Maurer: The distribution and ecology of common marine and estuarine gastropods in the Delaware Bay area. Nautilus 89, 73–79 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Massé, H.: Quantitative investigations of sandbottom macrofauna along the Mediterranean North-West coast. Mar. Biol. 15, 209–220 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Maurer, D.: Pelecypod-sediment associations in Tomales Bay, California. Veliger 11, 243–249 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • Maurer, D. Biological conditions of the deepwater portion of lower Delaware Bay, 94 pp. Rep. National Science Foundation/Research Applied to National Needs Program, College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware 1974. (Internal publication)

  • Maurer, D.: Estuarine benthic invertebrates of Indian River and Rehoboth Bays, Delaware. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. (In press)

  • —, J. Tinsman, W. Leathem and P. Kinner: Baseline study of Sussex County Delaware ocean outfalls, 287 pp. Sussex County, Delaware: Sussex County Engineers 1976

    Google Scholar 

  • — and L. Watling: Studies on the oyster community in Delaware: the effects of the estuarine environment on the associated fauna. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 58, 161–201 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • —— and G. Aprill: The distribution and ecology of common marine and estuarine pelecypods in the Delaware Bay area. Nautilus 88, 38–45 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • McDermott, J.: The predations of oysters and barnacles by crabs of the family Xanthidae. Proc. Pa Acad. Sci. 34, 199–216 (1960)

    Google Scholar 

  • —: Predation of the razor clam Ensis directus by the nemertean worm Cerebratulus lacteus. Chesapeake Sci. 17, 299–301 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, A.D. and A. Eleftheriou: The bottom fauna of a flatfish nursery ground. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 48, 113–142 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, E.L.: The community concept in marine zoology with comments on continua and instability in some marine communities. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 26, 1415–1428 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • Muus, B.F.: The fauna of Danish estuaries and lagoons. Distribution and ecology of dominating species in the shallow reaches of the mesohaline zone. Meddr Danm. Fisk.-og Havunders. (N.S.) 5, 1–316 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connor, J.S.: The macrofauna of Moriches Bay, New York. Biol. Bull. mar biol. Lab., Woods Hole 142, 84–102 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Oostdam, B.L.: Suspended sediment transport in Delaware Bay, 303 pp. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Delaware 1971

  • Orth, R.J.: Benthic infauna of eelgrass, Zostera marina, beds. Chesapeake Sci. 14, 258–269 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, D.K.: Functional relationships of benthos in a coastal lagoon, 146 pp. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Rhode Island 1964

  • Polis, D.F. and S.L. Kupferman: Physical oceanography. Rep. Ser. Delaware Bay, Coll. mar. Stud. 4, 1–143 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, S.D.: Benthic fauna. Univ. Rhode Island Occ. Publs (Mar. Publ. Ser. No. 2) (1973)

  • Richards, H.G.: A faunistic survey of the marine invertebrates of New Jersey, with especial reference to the Cape May region, 108 pp. M. S. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania 1929

  • Rosenberg, R.: Succession in benthic macrofauna in a Swedish fjord subsequent to the closure of a sulphite pulp mill. Oikos 24, 244–258 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, G.T., P.T. Polloni and J.I. Rowe: Benthic community parameters in the lower Mystic River. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 57, 573–584 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, H.L.: Oceanography of Long Island Sound 1952–1954. X. Biology of marine bottom communities. Bull. Bingham oceanogr. Coll. 15, 345–414 (1956)

    Google Scholar 

  • —: Benthic studies in Buzzards Bay. I. Animalsediment relationships. Limnol. Oceanogr. 3, 245–258 (1958)

    Google Scholar 

  • —: Benthic studies in Buzzards Bay. III. The structure of the soft-bottom community. Limnol. Oceanogr. 5, 138–153 (1960)

    Google Scholar 

  • —: Marine benthic diversity — a comparative study. Am. Nat. 102, 243–282 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuster, C.N.: Xiphosura. In: Treatise on ecology and paleoecology, pp 1171–1174. Ed. by J. W. Hedgpeth. New York: Geological Society of America 1957. (Mem. geol. Soc. Am. No. 67)

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, O.R.: Notes on the ability of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, to locate soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria. Ecology 34, 636–637 (1953)

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R.W.: An analysis of the summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus (Linnaeus), population in the Delaware Bay, 72 pp. Master's Thesis, University of Delaware 1969

  • Sneath, P.H.A. and R.R. Sokal: Numerical taxonomy, the principles and practice of numerical classification, 573 pp. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman & Co. 1973

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, W., Y.I. Raphael and S.D. Cook: The macrobenthos of Bramble Bay. Moreton Bay, Queensland. Mem. Qd Mus. 17, 425–447 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • —, W.T. Williams and S.D. Cook: Computer analyses of Petersen's original data on bottom communities. Ecol. Monogr. 42, 387–415 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorson, G.: Bottom communities (sublittoral or shallow shelf). In: Treatise on marine ecology and paleoecology, pp 461–534. Ed. by J.W. Hedgpeth. New York: Geological Society of America 1957. (Mem. geol. Soc. Am. No. 67)

    Google Scholar 

  • Watling, L.: Analysis of structural variations in a shallow estuarine deposit-feeding community. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 19, 275–313 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • —, W. Leathem, P. Kinner, C. Wethe and D. Maurer: Evaluation of sludge dumping off Delaware Bay. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 5, 39–42 (1974a)

    Google Scholar 

  • —, J. Lindsay, R. Smith and D. Maurer: The distribution of Isopoda in the Delaware Bay region. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 59, 343–351 (1974b)

    Google Scholar 

  • — and D. Maurer: Marine shallow water amphipods of the Delaware Bay area, U.S.A.. Crustaceana 1972 (Suppl. 3), 251–266 (1972a)

    Google Scholar 

  • ——: Shallow water hydroids of the Delaware Bay region. J. nat. Hist. 6, 643–649 (1972b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Watling, L. and D. Maurer (Eds.): Ecological studies on benthic and planktonic assemblages in Lower Delaware Bay, 634 pp. Rep. National Science Foundation/ Research Applied to national Needs Program. College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 1976. (Internal publication)

  • Weil, C.: Dynamics of sedimentary facies in Delaware Bay, 300 pp. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Delaware 1976

  • Zaneveld, J.S.: The benthic marine algae of Delaware, U.S.A. Chesapeake Sci. 13, 120–138 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Field Station, College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Lewes, Delaware, USA

    D. Maurer, P. Kinner, W. Leathem & C. Wethe

  2. Ira C. Darling Center, University of Maine, Walpole, Maine, USA

    L. Watling

Authors
  1. D. Maurer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. Watling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. P. Kinner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. W. Leathem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. C. Wethe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Communicated by M.R. Tripp, Newark

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Maurer, D., Watling, L., Kinner, P. et al. Benthic invertebrate assemblages of Delaware Bay. Mar. Biol. 45, 65–78 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388978

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388978

Keywords

Search

Navigation