Sampling Characteristics of Enclosure Fish Traps
- 1 July 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 110 (4) , 557-562
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1981)110<557:scoeft>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Traps that enclose quickly a known area of water, enclosure traps, appear to be effective devices for sampling small fishes in shallow marshes. Three trap designs, a 1‐m2 drop trap, a 1‐m2 throw trap, and a 2.25‐m2 throw trap, were compared. The drop trap was inferior in sampling accuracy and precision and in ease of use. The two throw traps had similar sampling characteristics, but the larger, 2.25‐m2, trap required a larger field crew and more time to sample a unit area than did the smaller throw trap. The precision of the 1‐m2 throw trap in the Everglades was such that 20 or fewer samples were required in nearly 75% of the sampling situations. The trap had an accuracy of about 73% of true fish density. It showed no bias against particular fish species, but a bias against fish larger than 20 mm occurred in one of three tests. Their precision, accuracy, and logistical efficiency make small throw traps useful for some studies of fishes in shallow marshes.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
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- Prey Selectivity by the Wood StorkOrnithological Applications, 1976