Suprabenthic gradients of swimming activity by cold-water gammaridean amphipod Crustacea over a muddy shelf in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

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Abstract
From May to Oct. 1961-1962 and 1969, suprabenthic sampling above homologous, uniformly deep (119 m), cold (.hivin.x = 0.8.degree. C), and muddy grounds of Baie des Chaleurs, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, yielded 82 gammaridean amphipod species belonging to 27 families. Fifty-one species regarded as suprabenthic are grouped into 7 categories according to amplitude, intensity and regularity of their swimming behavior. The 14 Oedicerotidae account for 88% of suprabenthic amphipods; in the endobenthos the lysianassid Paratryphosites abyssi is dominant (53%), the Oedicerotidae (3.3%) being only the 6th most important family. True suprabenthic species typically swim to at least 3.7 m above the bottom. Permanent members of the suprabenthos, including large predatory species, a carrion feeder, and many detritivores, are thought to forage in the suprabenthic layer.

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