A NEW DEVICE FOR SAMPLING MACROINVERTEBRATES FROM WOODY DEBRIS (SNAGS) IN NEARSHORE AREAS OF AQUATIC SYSTEMS

A new sampler was designed to capture macroinvertebrates which may bec ome dislodged or attempt to escape during the removal of a snag sample . Constructed of PVC, light canvas, and nitex mesh, the sampler is lig htweight and durable. To evaluate sampling efficiency, ten snag sample s were collected from near the shoreline of the Ohio River with this d evice. A kicknet was held below the snag during removal to capture any organisms which might not be retained by the snag sampler. Taxonomic bias in the loss of organisms was not apparent. Overall loss of organi sms was 0.7% of the total number of individuals collected, thus demons trating the effectiveness of the device for collecting reliable macroi nvertebrate samples from snag substrata.