TM 181 Table 2.9

Table 2.9. Habitat types for the canyons of Georges Bank, including characteristic fauna.(Faunal characterization is from Cooper et al. (1987) and is for depths <230 m only.)

Habitat Type	Geologic Description	Canyon Locations	Most Commonly Observed Fauna
I	Sand or semiconsolidated silt substrate (claylike consistency) with <5% overlay of gravel.Relatively featureless except for conical sediment mounds	Walls and axis	Cerianthid, pandalid shrimp, white colonial anemone, Jonah crab, starfishes, portunid crab, greeneye, brittle stars, mosaic worm, red hake, fourspot flounder, shellless hermit crab, silver hake, and Gulf Stream flounder
II	Sand or semiconsolidated silt substrate (claylike consistency) with >5% overlay of gravel.Relatively featureless	Walls	Cerianthids, galatheid crab, squirrel hake, white colonial anemone, Jonah crab, silver hake, sea stars, ocean pout, brittle stars, shell-less hermit crab, and greeneye
III	Sand or semiconsolidated silt (claylike consistency) overlain by siltstone outcrops and talus up to boulder size.Featured bottom with erosion by animals and scouring	Walls	White colonial anemone, pandalid shrimp, cleaner shrimp, rock anemone, white hake, sea stars, ocean pout, conger eel, brittle stars, Jonah crab, American lobster, blackbelly rosefish, galatheid crab, mosaic worm, and tilefish
IV	Consolidated silt substrate, heavily burrowed/excavated.Slope generally >5º and <50º.Termed “pueblo village” habitat	Walls	Sea stars, blackbelly rosefish, Jonah crab, American lobster, white hake, cusk, ocean pout, cleaner shrimp, conger eel, tilefish, galatheid crab, and shell-less hermit crab
V	Sand dune substrate	Axis	Sea stars, white hake, Jonah crab, and goosefish