Abstract
Rates of decrease in epifluorescence-detectable bacteria in preserved sea-water samples changed significantly with temperature. This apparent cell loss was substantial even in preserved samples stored in a refrigerator, decreasing exponentially with time, with 56% apparent cell loss after 99 days’ storage. Storage at room temperature resulted in the greatest decrease in detectable cells, with 73% apparent cell loss after the same storage period. No significant difference was found between storage in two different containers. The apparent cell loss can be modelled in order to calculate the original cell numbers with confidence. However, models produced from one set of samples cannot be applied to the data from another.

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