Comparison of sleds versus plankton nets for sampling fish larvae and eggs
✍ Scribed by C. P. Madenjian; D. J. Jude
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1985
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 482 KB
- Volume
- 124
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1573-5141
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Fish larvae and fish eggs were sampled from the inshore waters of eastern Lake Michigan from 1978 through 1980, using a benthic sled and a plankton net towed within 0.5 m of the lake bottom. Differences between estimates of ichthyoplankton abundance based on the benthic sled and those based on the plankton net towed near bottom were examined along with interactions between gear, bottom depth, and time of day. Time of day was determined t o be a n important factor in comparing these two gear, but data were inconclusive as t o the effect of depth on gear differences. Abundance of fish eggs calculated using sled tow data was significantly higher than that for the plankton net. For nighttime collections, density of alewife Alosapseudoharengus larvae sampled in the plankton net significantly exceeded that for the sled, whereas density of spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius larvae based on sled data was significantly higher than that based on the plankton net for day sampling. Overall, the plankton net appeared to be adequate for sampling abundance of alewife larvae, while the sled was preferred for sampling fish eggs, spottail shiner larvae, and the following less common, but apparently demersal larvae: trout-perch Percopsis omiscomaycus, johnny darter Etheostoma nigrum, ninespine stickleback Pungitius pungitius, and slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus. Hydrobiologia 124, 275-281 (1985). O Dr W . Junk Publishers, Dordrecht. Printed in the Netherlands. * Significant (p < 0.05).
** Highly significant (p < 0.01).