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Efficacy of a vacuum benthos sampler for collecting demersal fish eggs from gravel substratum
Author(s) -
Ruetz C. R.,
Jennings C. A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
ecology of freshwater fish
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1600-0633
pISSN - 0906-6691
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0633.1997.tb00166.x
Subject(s) - benthic zone , benthos , demersal fish , fish <actinopterygii> , demersal zone , significant difference , environmental science , biology , fauna , fishery , substrate (aquarium) , zoology , ecology , mathematics , statistics
— We used two densities of eggs (low=900 eggs/m 2 ; high=5100 eggs/m 2 ) in laboratory experiments to estimate the recovery efficiency of the Brown benthos sampler for collecting fish eggs from gravel substrate and to determine if differences (e. g., 5‐fold) in egg density in the substratum could be detected with the sampler. The mean egg recovery efficiency of the sampler in the low and high density treatments was 30% (SE=8.7) and 35% (SE=3.8), respectively. The difference between the treatment means was not significant. Therefore, data from the two treatments were pooled and used to estimate the recovery efficiency of the sampler (32.7%, SE=4.4). However, we were able to detect a 5× difference in the number of eggs collected with the sampler between the two treatments. Our estimate of the recovery efficiency of the sampler for collecting fish eggs was less than those reported for the sampler's efficiency for collecting benthic macroinvertebrates. The low recovery efficiency of the sampler for collecting fish eggs does not lessen the utility of the device. Rather, ecologists planning to use the sampler must estimate the recovery efficiency of target fauna, especially if density estimates are to be calculated, because recovery efficiency probably is less than 100%.