PLANKTON STUDIES IN BUZZARDS BAY, MASSACHUSETTS, USA .4. TINTINNIDS, 1987 TO 1988

Tintinnids were collected from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, USA, from October 1987 to September 1988. Tintinnids were collected by screening 3 l of seawater with a 20 mum mesh. Eight stations throughout the bay were sampled at monthly or twice-monthly intervals. A total of 30 spe cies of tintinnids were recorded, half of which were members of the ge nus Tintinnopsis. Tintinnid abundances ranged from 0 to 3.3 x 10(3) ce lls l-1. Tintinnids were least abundant at the Cape Cod Canal and in n orthern Buzzards Bay, and most abundant at the New Bedford sewage outf all. Unlike dinoflagellates, tintinnids did not show higher abundances in New Bedford Harbor than in the main part of the bay. The effect of screening tintinnid samples with a 20 mum mesh screen was examined by comparisons of abundance of tintinnids in screened and unscreened who le-water samples concentrated by gravitational sedimentation. Tintinni d abundance estimates were significantly higher in the screened sample s.