Hello Pall,

The localities I mentioned in my reply to Steven can be divided into two
groups - those north of, and those south of Cape Cod.  The last three I
listed are on the south shore of Cape Cod.  I wouldn't expect the species at
these locations to be very similar to the species in Iceland.  The south
shore of the Cape has very different fauna from the north shore, even though
at places they are only 10 to 15 miles apart.  The south shore is warmed by
the Gulf Stream, which flows northward from the Caribbean.  Several of the
species found there range southward all the way to Florida or beyond - yet
they do not range 15 miles north to the other shore of the Cape.  This makes
Cape Cod a particularly interesting place to collect.  By driving a few
miles you can go from rocky, rockweed-covered, surf-washed shores with water
temperature of 45 degrees, to shallow, sandy beaches with grass and sea
lettuce, and water temperature of 65 degrees.

The other places I mentioned are all north of Cape Cod.  These are cold
water habitats.  What sets Manomet apart from the others in this group is
the extremely rocky nature of the intertidal area.  The beach here is
composed largely of boulders, with intermittent tidal pools.  The other
northern localities I mentioned are more sandy or muddy than rocky.  I
haven't seen the shoreline of Iceland, but if your collecting areas are
largely rocky, with rockweeds like Fucus and Ascophyllum, that would account
for the similarity between your fauna and that of Manomet point.

        Regards,
        Paul M.