AN EFFICIENT AND QUANTITATIVE AQUATIC BENTHOS SAMPLER FOR USE IN DIVERSE HABITATS WITH VARIABLE FLOW REGIMES

A suction sampler designed to minimize sampling error, and quantitatively collect benthic macroinvertebrates from coarse substrata under various flow regimes is described. This sampler uses a 12 V bilge pump (capacity 4400 1 h-1) to suck animals into a collecting net from substrata disturbed by a single operator. Macroinvertebrates were collected more rapidly by this sampler than by a Surber sampler or a Boulton suction sampler. Sources of sampling error are discussed for all three samplers. The electric pump sampler described here is suitable for sampling habitats where depth and velocity vary spatially and with time.