A comparison of methods for sampling splashpool copepoda

Abstract

SARSIA POWLlK, JAMES J. 19980828. A comparison of methods for sampling splashpool copepoda. -Sarsia 83:219-223. Bergen. ISSN 0036-4827.Collection methods for micro-and meiofauna within high shore splashpools are compared using four simple, hand-held devices, with the supralittoral harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus calif amicus as a representative organism. For the collection of all T. calif amicus life-history stages, over a range of potential densities and with a minimum of specimen damage, a 30 ml graduated pipette is demonstrably more efficient than bottles, preparation dishes, or small nets. Collection ofnauplii and gravid females, which typically subsist closer to the substratum and in pits or crevices in the bedrock, was particularly better using the pipette, which generates a rapid suction, produces less overall disturbance than larger devices, and can be used over a broad range of pool sizes without modification. For analysis, pipettes provide a smaller, more concentrated sample, reducing processing time and the potential for handling error.

Metapopulation dynamics of Tigriopus brevicornis (Harpacticoida) in intertidal rock pools

“…Bottles could be instantaneously filled with the minimum of disturbance to benthic cells and detritus by placing them horizontally onto the bottom of pools. In contrast to the results of Powlik (1998a), sampling with a bottle was an effective method of capturing nauplii (the difference may be due to the larger bottle size used by Powlik). Individuals of Tigriopus brevicornis were identified to life history stage (Nauplius Stages I-V, Copepodid Stages I-V, and adults identified to sex) following Fraser (1936a) using an inverted microscope after overnight settlement of fixed 10, 25 or 100 ml sub-samples.…”