The review presented below formed one component of a project that focused on the application of various technologies for the purpose of developing ecological habitat maps for Long Island Sound (Zajac 1996). As a framework for these efforts, I felt that it would important to reconsider previous studies of the benthic ecology of Long Island Sound and to assess how this information might be used in conjunction with existing information on the physical and chemical characteristics of the Long Island Sound sea floor in order to better understand and predict the dynamics of these ecosystems. I hope that its inclusion in this CD-ROM will provide a resource for other researchers by summarizing the general characteristics of benthic communities in the Sound, and as background information for more detailed investigations.