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Meiofauna extraction efficiency by a modified Oostenbrink apparatus

Helgoländer wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen volume 32, pages 436–443 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

A semi-automatic method for the extraction of soil nematodes (Oostenbrink, 1960) was modified for the separation of psammolittorine meiofauna from routine samples collected during a marine pollution monitoring programme. This method was compared with Elmgren's (1976) decantation technique. The two procedures used did not differ significantly in terms of extraction efficiency. They were applied to samples containing nematodes and harpacticoid copepods of known numbers in medium-fine and coarse sand, using fresh water and sea water as extraction media. Losses within the apparatus were found to be negligible. By 2×2×2 factorial analysis, which was used to separate the effects of methods and treatments, nonsignificant differences for nematode recovery were obtained; harpacticoids, however, were less efficiently recovered by the Oostenbrink method using sea water. The Oostenbrink flotation method took 9 to 12 min per sample, caused no or only little damage to the fauna and gave consistent results with different operators.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, c/o Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, 7700, Rondebosch, South Africa

    A. H. Fricke

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  1. A. H. Fricke
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Fricke, A.H. Meiofauna extraction efficiency by a modified Oostenbrink apparatus. Helgolander Wiss. Meeresunters 32, 436–443 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02277987

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02277987

Keywords

Helgoland Marine Research

ISSN: 1438-3888

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