Dominant Species of Polychaetous Annelids of Georges Bank

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Abstract
During the course of a study of polychaetous annelids of Georges Bank, 333 taxa of polychaetes (winter, 263; spring, 264) belonging to 46 families (winter, 30; spring, 33) were identified. The top taxa in terms of abundance accounted for a mean of 88% (winter) and 89.3% (spring) of the number of polychaetes per station. Based on density and frequency of occurrence, the top taxa for winter were Spiophanes bombyx, Exogone hebes, Euclymene collaris, Exogone verugera, Aricidea catherinae, Phyllodoce mucosa, Cirratulidae species, Parapionosyllis longicirrata, Schistomeringos caeca, Spiophanes kroyeri, Sphaerosyllis erinaceus, Tharyx sp. B, Goniadella gracilis, Sabellidae species and Jasmineira filiformis. In the spring, Chone infundibuliformis, Maldanidae species, Nephtyidae species, Notomastus latericeus and Euchone incolor were among the top taxa, which included 10 taxa from the winter. Ten species were selected and quantitatively examined for their distribution and ecological relationships with environmental variables. These dominant species are an important component of macrobenthic infauna from Georges Bank to Chesapeake Bay. Approximately 15 families of polychaetes are important taxa for the continental shelves ranging from California to Alaska, and Chesapeake Bay to Georges Bank.