Evaluation of Larval Fish Sampling Gears for Use on Large Rivers
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£ ~ f ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER QUALITY OPERATIONAL STUDIES US Army Corps TECHNICAL REPORT E-86-9 of Engineers EVALUATION OF LARVAL FISH SAMPLING GEARS FOR USE ON LARGE RIVERS by Timothy R. Bosley, C. H. Pennington, Michael E. Potter, Scott S. Knight Environmental Laboratory DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY Waterways Experiment Station, Corps of Engineers PO Box 631, Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180-0631 July 1986 Final Report Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Prepared for DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY US Army Corps of Engineers Washington, DC 20314-1000 Under EWQOS Work Unit VII.B library DEC 15 '86 Bureau of Reclamation Denver, Ootorado Destroy this report when no longer needed. Do not return it to the originator. The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army position unless so designated by other authorized documents. The contents of this report are not to be used for advertising, publication, or promotional purposes. Citation of trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use of such commercial products. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION 92008412 ^□□0412 \ £• I Un classi, f.lp.d- SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE (When Data Entered) READ INSTRUCTIONS REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE BEFORE COMPLETING FORM 1. REPORT NUMBER 2. GOVT ACCESSION NO. 3. RECIPIENT’S CATALOG NUMBER Technical Report E-86-9 4. T ITL E (and Subtitle) 5. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED EVALUATION OF LARVAL FISH SAMPLING GEARS FOR USE Final report ON LARGE RIVERS 6. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT NUMBER 7. AUTHOR*» 8. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER*» Timothy R. Bosley, C. H. Pennington, Michael E. Potter, Scott S. Knight 9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT, PROJECT, TASK AREA & WORK UNIT NUMBERS US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Environmental Laboratory PO Box 631, Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180-0631 EWQOS Work Unit VII.B 11. CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND ADDRESS 12. RJEPO-RT DATE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY July 1986 US Army Corps of Engineers 13. NUMBER OF PAGES Washington, DC 20314-1000 53 14. MONITORING AGENCY NAME a ADDRESS(7f different from Controlling Office) 15. SECURITY CLASS, (of this report) Unclassified 15«. D ECL ASSI FI CATION/DOWNGRADING SCHEDULE 16. DISTRIBUTION STATEM EN T (of this Report) Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. 17. DISTRIBUTION STATEM EN T (of the abstract entered in Block 20, it different from Report) 18. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Available from National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161. 19. KEY WORDS (Continue on reverse side if necessary and identify by block number) Larvae— Fishes— Research— Equipment and supplies (LC) Ichthyological research— Equipment and supplies (LC) 20* ABSTRACT (Continue en reverse altBs ft necessary and. identity by block number) A study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of five different collecting gears in sampling larval fishes associated with dikes and revet ments. The tests were conducted on the Lower Mississippi River at mile 508.8 and miles 447-448. The five collecting gears used were: plankton nets fished at discrete depths in the water column of a dike pool and the main channel; a push sled; a diaphragm pump; an electroshocker; and basket implants. (Continued) FORM DD * JAM 73 U73 EDITION O F f NOV 65 IS O BSO LETE Unclassified S E C U R I T Y C L A S S IF IC A T I O N O F TH IS P A G E (Wr«* Data Entered) ______Unclassified__________________ S ECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGEfWTian Data Entered) 20. ABSTRACT (Continued). These gears were used during the day and night to describe diel and temporal changes in the larval fish community in main channel, dike pool, dike, revet ment, and sandbar habitats. The discrete depth net gear was effective in documenting the vertical, diel, and temporal distribution of ichthyoplankton drift in the main channel and dike pool habitats. Similarities and differences in ichthyoplankton abundance and diversity occurred between habitats. The most notable observation was the comparable abundance among like depth strata between habitats in May. In June, the surface stratum at each habitat contained a far greater abundance of larvae than the samples collected at lower depths. The push sled was effective for sampling shallow water in the vicinity of sandbars. Use of the sled revealed diel and temporal differences in the shallow- water ichthyoplankton. Night samples had a much greater abundance of larvae than day samples, especially in July. Carpsuckers, shad, and minnows were domi nant in May, whereas minnows and carpsuckers comprised nearly all the larvae collected in July. The diaphragm pump, electroshocker, and implant baskets were used to sample ichthyoplankton associated with dike and revetment habitats. Of these gears, the diaphragm pump was the most effective. Samples collected along dikes and revetments contained a greater abundance and diversity of larvae than open-water samples. Based on the samples collected using the electroshocker, the presence of an electrical field did not improve catch efficiency. Of the three gears used to sample larval fish from dikes and revetments, the implant baskets were least effective. Unclassified SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGEfWien Data Entered) PREFACE The study described in this report was sponsored by the Office, Chief of Engineers (OCE), US Army, under the Environmental and Water Quality Operational Studies (EWQOS) Program, Work Unit VII.B, Waterways Field Studies. The EWQOS Program has been assigned to the US Army Engi neer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) under the direction of the Envi ronmental Laboratory (EL). The OCE Technical Monitors for EWQOS were Mr. Earl Eiker, Dr. John Bushman, and Mr. James L. Gottesman. This report presents results of a study designed to evaluate five different gears for sampling fish larvae from habitats within the main line levees of the Lower Mississippi River. Habitats of particular con cern were those associated with dikes and revetments. The study was conducted at river mile 508.8 and river miles 447-448 from May through July 1982. This report was prepared by Mr. Timothy R. Bosley, Dr. C. H. Pen nington, Mr. Michael E. Potter, and Dr. Scott S. Knight, under the supervision of Dr. Thomas D. Wright, Chief, Aquatic Habitat Group, and Dr. Conrad J. Kirby, Chief, Environmental Resources Division. Dr. Jerome L. Mahloch was Program Manager, EWQOS, and Dr. John Harrison was Chief, EL. The report was edited by Ms. Jessica S. Ruff of the WES Information Products Division. COL Allen F. Grum, USA, was the previous Director of WES. COL Dwayne G. Lee, CE, is the present Commander and Director. Dr. Robert W. Whalin is Technical Director. This report should be cited as follows: Bosley, T. R., et al. 1986. "Evaluation of Larval Fish Sampling Gears for Use on Large Rivers," Technical Report E-86-9, US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss. 1 CONTENTS Page PREFACE ........................................................ 1 PART I: INTRODUCTION............ ......... ......... 3 Background .............................................. 3 O b j e c t i v e s ......................................... 4 PART II: REVIEW OF SAMPLING METHODS AND G E A R S ................. 5 Towed G e a r .............................................. 5 Push N e t s ................... 12 Water P u m p s ............................... 12 Larvae T r a p .............................................. 15 Other G e a r s ................... 18 PART III: M E T H O D S ..................... 23 Study A r e a ............................... 23 Description and Use of Gears . ...................... 23 Laboratory Procedures ................................... 32 Evaluation Procedure ......................... 33 PART IV: RESULTS AND EVALUATION.............................. 34 Discrete Depth N e t s ...................................... 34 Push S l e d ................................................ 39 Diaphragm P u m p .......................................... 41 Electroshocker .......................................... 43 Implant B a s k e t .......................................... 45 PART V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.................... 47 Conclusions.............................................. 47 Recommendations..................................... 48 R E F E R E N C E S ............................................ 49 2 EVALUATION OF LARVAL FISH SAMPLING GEARS FOR USE ON LARGE RIVERS PART I: INTRODUCTION Background 1. From 1978 through 1980 the US Army Engineer Waterways Experi ment Station (WES) conducted larval fish studies in the Mississippi River between river mile 480 and 530 (Greenville, Miss., to Lake Provi dence, La.) as part of the Environmental and Water Quality Operational Studies (EWQOS) Program sponsored by the Office, Chief of Engineers, US Army. The larval fish studies were performed as a portion of a larger investigation to evaluate the impacts of channel alignment struc tures (dikes and revetments) on water quality, macroinvertebrates, and fishes in large rivers. This investigation was also intended to clarify the biological characteristics of natural habitats (sandbars, abandoned channels, natural banks, etc.) in addition to the habitats modified by navigation structures. 2. The larval fish studies consisted of collecting samples from near the water’s surface (0.5- to 1.0-m depth) in main channel, natural bank, revetted bank, secondary channel, abandoned channel, and dike pool habitats using 0.5-m-diam conical