Efficiency of artificial collectors for quantitative assessment of sea urchin settlement rates

Summary: We tested the suitability of three different kinds of artificial collectors designed for quantitative assessment of echinoid settlement rates: (1) nylon nets containing plastic biofilter balls, (2) vertical scrub brushes with vegetal bristles and (3) horizontal triangular mats of coconut fi...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Balsalobre, M., Wangensteen Fuentes, Owen S. (Simon), Palacín Cabañas, Cruz, Clemente, Sabrina, Hernández, José Carlos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/101803
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/101803
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Eriçons de mar
Canàries
Larves
Sea urchins
Canary Islands
Larvae
Descripción
Sumario:Summary: We tested the suitability of three different kinds of artificial collectors designed for quantitative assessment of echinoid settlement rates: (1) nylon nets containing plastic biofilter balls, (2) vertical scrub brushes with vegetal bristles and (3) horizontal triangular mats of coconut fibre. We measured the collecting efficiency by counting the number of post-larvae of two sea urchin species (Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula) gathered by each collector and deployed in two geographic areas: Tenerife (Canary Islands, eastern Atlantic) and Tossa de Mar (Costa Brava, northwestern Mediterranean). The plastic biofilter ball collector proved to be the most efficient design, collecting more settlers of both sea urchin species under all assayed conditions and showing a higher reproducibility than the other two designs. We therefore suggest using plastic biofilter balls in future studies aimed at quantifying echinoid settlement rates.