Chesapeake Bay Soft-Bottom Benthic Macrofauna Species List

Over 500 species have been collected by the Chesapeake Bay Benthic Monitoring Program since 1985.  The list is organized by animal group, and the species are listed alphabetically within animal group.  The list includes macrofauna collected in unvegetated, soft-bottom substrates throughout the Maryland and Virginia portions of the Chesapeake Bay from 1985 through 2004.  Macrofauna are animals retained in a sieve with 0.5 millimeter openings, so most are quite small.  A microscope is necessary to identify most macrofauna, although they are visible to the naked eye.  Additional information about each of the species in this list is available in the data section of this web site.

Entire list (PDF)

Species by Taxonomic Group:

Cnidaria Hydrozoa Anthozoa	Arthropoda Merostomata Arachnida Pycnogonida Branchiura Cirripedia Mysidacea Cumacea Tanaidacea Isopoda Amphipoda Decapoda Stomatopoda Collembola Ephemeroptera Odonata Plecoptera Coleoptera Trichoptera Diptera	Sipuncula
Turbellaria		Echiura
Nemertina		Phoronida
Annelida Polychaeta Oligochaeta Hirudinea		Echinodermata
		Hemichordata
Mollusca Gastropoda Bivalvia		Chordata

URL http://esm.versar.com/vcb/benthos/benthos/macro.htm

Revised: October 3, 2007.