Observation of manganese deposits in the Bear and Balanus New England Seamounts, Atlantic Ocean

Bear Seamount (39° 55'N, 67° 30'W) is an extinct undersea volcano located inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone south of Georges Bank. The fauna associated with the seamount was little known until twenty trawl stations were made 2-7 December 2000, by the NOAA ship Delaware II. The objective of the cruise was to begin to document the biodiversity on and over the seamount, particularly of fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Representatives of most species were preserved as vouchers and for subsequent definitive identification. Preliminary identifications indicate the capture of 115 fish species. Among these were a number of new fish records for the area or rare species, including Acromycter pertubator (Congridae), Alepocephalus bairdii (Alepocephalidae), Mirognathus normani (Alepocephalidae), Bathygadus favosus (Bathygadidae), Nezumia longebarbata (Macrouridae), Gaidropsarus argentatus (Phycidae), and Dibranchus tremendus (Ogcocephalidae). Only two fish species of potential commercial importance were encountered: Coryphaenoides rupestris and Macrourus berglax. Cephalopods comprised 26 species in 15 families, including one new distributional record and several rarelycollected species. The crustacean fauna was diverse with at least 46 species. Totals for other invertebrate species are pending laboratory identification, but number at least 113 species in 10 phyla. This includes a number of new distributional records and a new species of gorgonian.