British Columbia Faunistic Survey: Subtidal and Deepwater Megafauna of the Strait of Georgia
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British Columbia Faunistic Survey: Subtidal and Deepwater Megafauna of the Strait of Georgia F. R. Bernard Department of Fisheries and the Environment Fisheries and Marine Service Resource Services Branch Pacific Biological Station o(t, DES MAR/iv Nanaimo, B.C. V9R - 5K6' fSbe," MAR I 197; 6 December 1978 A t Li8nAliIi Fisheries and Marine Service Manuscript Report No. 1488 Fisheries and Environment Peches et Environnement e Canada Canada Fisheries Service des peches and Marine Service et de la mer Fisheries and Marine Service a Manuscript Reports These reports contain scientific and technical information that represents an important contribution to existing knowledge but which for some reason may not be appropriate for primary scientific (i.e. Journal) publication. 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Les numeros de 1 a 900 de cette serie ont ete publies a titre de manuscrits (Serie biologique) de l'Office de biologie du Canada, et apres le changement de la designation de cet organisme par decret du Parlement, en 1937, ont ete classes en tant que manuscrits (Serie biologique) de l'Office des recherches sur les pecheries du Canada. Les numeros allant de 901 a 1425 ont ete publios a titre de manuscrits de l'Office des recherches sur les pecheries du Canada. Le nom de la serie a ete change a partir du rapport numero 1426. La page couverture porte le nom de l'etablissement auteur ou l'on peut se procurer les rapports sous couverture cartonnee. •Cover design by Christine Rusk Fisheries and Marine Service Manuscript Report 1488 December 1978 BRITISH COLUMBIA FAUNISTIC SURVEY: SUBTIDAL AND DEEPWATER ~lliGAFAUNA OF THE STRAIT OF GEORGIA by F. R. Bernard Department of Fisheries and the Environment Fisheries and Marine Service Resource Services Branch Pacific Biological Station Nanaimo, British Columbia V9R 5K6 - ii - (c) Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1978 Cat. no. Fs 97-6/1488 ISSN 0701-7626 iii INDEX TO PHYLA AND CLASSES IDENTIFIED Page ANNELIDA 12 Amphineura 16 Anthozoa lO ARTHROPODA 31 Articulata 16 Ascidiacea 36 Asteroidea 28 Bivalvia 22 BRACHIOPODA 16 Calcarea 9 Cephalopoda 26 CHORDATA 36 CNIDARIA 9 Crinoidea 27 Crustacea 31 •' Desmospongia 9 ECHINODERMATA 27 Echinoidea 29 ECHIURA 15 ECTOPROCTA 12 Gastropoda 17 Gymnolaemata 12 iv Page Hexactinellida 9 Holothurioidea 30 Hydrozoa 9 Inarticulata 16 MOLLUSCA 16 NEMER TEA 11 Ophiuroidea 27 PLATYHELMINTHES 11 Polychaeta 12 PORIFERA 9 Pycnogonidae 31 Scaphopoda 26 Scyphozoa 10 SIPUNCULIDA 15 Tubellaria 11 - v- ABSTRACT Bernard, F. R. 1978. British Columbia faunistic survey: subtidal and deepwater megafauna of the Strait of Georgia. Fish. Mar. Serv. MS Rep. 1488: 4lp. A list of the macroinvertebrates collected from 315 stations occupied in the Strait of Georgia below 10 m comprised 481 species, not including numerous unidentified taxa of bryozoa and compound tunicates. The inventory resulted in the identification of six major communities, primarily dependent on particle size and secondarily on depth. Key words: Benthos, invertebrates, communities, marine infauna, Strait of Georgia. " RESUME, Bernard, F. R. 1978. British Columbia faunistic survey: subtidal and deepwater megafauna of the Strait of Georgia. Fish. Mar. Serv. MS Rep. 1488: 4lp. Le rapport dresse la liste de 481 especes de lJlacro-inyertebres peches dans 315 stations, a plus de 10m de prodondeur, dans le detroit de G~orgie, ce qui ne comprend pas les nombreux bryozoaires et tuniciers coloniaux qui n'ont pu etre classes. L 1 inventaire fait €tat de six principales communautes differenciees, premierement, d 1apres la granulometrie des particules, et, deuxiemement, d 1 apres la profondeur. Mots clefs: Benthos; invertebres; co~unaut€s; endofaune marine; detroit de Georgie. INTRODUCTION Identifications of numerous benthic invertebrates, collected from more than 300 stations occupied in the Strait of Georgia were used to compile an inventory and preliminary classification of the major communities occurring from approximately 10 m below low water to the deepest regions of the Strait. The majority of stations were part of the subtidal clam and scallop resources survey (Quayle 1961, 1963) and otters were part of the British Columbia faunistic survey (Bernard et al. 1967, 1968, 1970, 1973). Some stations taken during unrelated investigations, account for the near-random coverage (Fig. 1). Samples were taken with a variety of quantitative and qualitative apparatus (Bernard et al. 1967), but results showed that dredges, either trawl type or the naturalist dredge and its modifications, to be most effective for delimiting the major communities. Grab type quantitative samplers are meaningful within a given substrate condition and useful for refining spatial distributions determined initially by dredge or trawl sampling. Samples containing a large quantity of mud and sand, were passed through a series of sieves. Large, readily identifiable organisms were noted in the field, while smaller organisms and those retained by a 1-mm mesh, were fixed in formaldehyde and stored in isopropyl alcohol for later identification. When possible expert assistance was obtained for identification. Among those who contributed to the faunal list were T. B. Butler and J. F. L. Hart (Crustacea); C. Berkeley, R. Gustus, and K. D. Hobson (Polychaeta). Certain entire groups of the collection were identified and published by Austin and Haylock 1973 (Ophiuroids); Bernard 1967, 1970, 1971 (Molluscs and brachiopods); Lambert 1978 (Asteroids). Four hundred and eighty-one species were present, not counting several genera and numerous species of bryozoa and compound tunicates. This represented the most extensive list of the local benthic fauna since the check-list compiled from the literature by Clemens (1933). PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT The Strait of Georgia lies between the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. It is a submerged topography with much deposition, originally of glacial origin, but now riverine, dominated by the large outflow from the Fraser River. The western shores of the Strait are shallow with some sandy beaches. The eastern shores are steep, with headlands, deep fjords and few beaches, except in the region of the Fraser River. The Strait is generally less than 200-m deep, but a number of basins more than 300-m deep exist (Fig. 2). Quadra, Malaspina, Hornby, Ballenas Basins were recognized by Cockbain (1963b), but the last two were included with the - 2 - Gabriola Basin by Westrheim (1974) and are so considered in this report (Fig. 2). The basins are floored mainly by clay and silt, with local regions of sandy silt. The floors are generally uniform with numerous suitable trawling areas (Westrheim 1974), though a small number of depressions to about 450 m exist. There is no correlation between sediment grain size and depth (Cockbain 1963b), through the finest materials usually occupy the deeper zones. The salient feature of the southern portion of the strait is the Fraser River Delta, which consists of sediments over 100 ft in thickness (Cockbain 1963a) actively