A Comparative Study of Two Infaunal Sampling Devices: A Modified Van Veen Grab and a Clamshell Box Corer

Abstract

A new 0.1 m 2 benthic box core sampler, referred to as the CBC (Clam- <br /><br />shell Box Corer), has been developed. This sampler can be operated from small <br /><br />vessels and offers substantial improvements over Van Veen samplers, which are <br /><br />commonly used to sample infaunal organisms from southern California coastal <br /><br />areas. Field tests comparing the CBC and a modified, chain-rigged Van Veen <br /><br />showed that the CBC collected larger samples in various sediments tested, re- <br /><br />quired fewer attempts to collect acceptable samples, and generally collected more <br /><br />species of infauna in greater abundance and larger sizes than the Van Veen. Fur- <br /><br />ther, because the CBC penetrated more deeply than the Van Veen, it provided a <br /><br />better representation of the infaunal community.