A PORTABLE, DISCRETE-SAMPLING SUBMERSIBLE PLANKTON PUMP AND ITS USE IN SAMPLING STARFISH EGGS

The apparatus was designed to enable divers to obtain discrete replicate samples from known volumes of water. Relatively large volumes of water can be filtered without the need to maintain contact with or return to the surface. These attributes confer a high degree of flexibility in subsurface sampling situations. Although we used the equipment to sample the eggs of invertebrates, it could equally easily be used to sample other small, patchily distributed plankton.