Suction sampler for collection of benthic macroinvertebrates in several continental aquatic
environments: a comparative study with the Hess and Surber samplers
KIKUCHI1, R.M.; FONSECA-GESSNER2, A.A. & SHIMIZU3, G.Y.
1 Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais, CP 676 CEP 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brasil.
2 Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Departamento de Hidrobiologia, CP 676 CEP 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brasil. gessner@power.ufscar.br
3 Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Ecologia, SP, Brasil.
ABSTRACT: The difficulty of collecting benthic samples in turbulent, deep water, stony substrate and high flow rivers, is known. Thus, the aim of this article is to describe a Suction sampler, its operation, as well as demonstrate its efficiency for collecting benthic macroinvertebrates in several substrates of a river from large boulder to muddy substrate and in different water depths and current velocity. This sampler was developed and tested in the Tocantins River, in the influence area of the Luís Eduardo Magalhães hydroelectric power station during the phases: prefilling, reservoir filling and reservoir. In this article, just the results of the pre-filling phase from the period of September 2000 until August 2001 are presented. The Suction sampler had a good performance comparing to Hess and Surber samplers and could be used in most varied conditions, also enabling comparisons between points with different characteristics and sampling periods.
Key-words: Suction sampler, benthic macroinvertebrates, benthic collecting.