Silt, Mud, and Clay Seafloor

Long Island Sound consists of many regions where fine grained sediments and organic matter cover the seafloor. Although these mud habitats are often viewed as flat and featureless environments, they provide a habitat for a tremendous diversity of organisms.  The cohesive nature of fine silt and clay sediments as well as an abundance of nutrient-rich material provide an optimal habitat for many infaunal and epifaunal invertebrates. Some invertebrates such as the burrowing anemomes (top left) capture food particles from the water column, whereas deposit feeders sort through the sediment for nutrients. Small, slow-moving or sedentary organisms provide a food source for larger organisms that roam the seafloor, such as the predatory clam worm (Nereis virens; right ).

Fishes and crustaceans create burrows and shallow depressions of various sizes and configurations which greatly increases the complexity of mud habitats. Lobsters (Homarus americanus; left) are perhaps the best studied of the many burrowing species. Some species are structure producers,while many use structures produced by other organisms. For example, species like the four-bearded rockling (Enchelyopus cimbrius; right) produce bowl shaped depressions on the sediment surface. Other species, like long-finned squid, use abandoned depressions for cover.