"Live counting": a quick and simple technique for enumerating pelagic ciliates
Dale, T.; Burkill, P.H. (1982). "Live counting": a quick and simple technique for enumerating pelagic ciliates. Ann. Inst. Océanogr. 58: 267-276
In: Annales de l'Institut Océanographique. Institut Océanographique: Monaco. ISSN 0078-9682, more
| |
Keywords |
Aquatic communities > Plankton > Zooplankton Counters Ecology > Planktonology Methodology Ciliata Couch, 1832 [WoRMS] Marine/Coastal; Brackish water |
Abstract |
Two methods of live counting of ciliates. For the nearshore site, where abundances of ciliates were up to 18 ml-1, a counting chamber of 4.5 ml was used. At the estuary site where the abundances were higher (up to 225 ml-1), a smaller volume counting chamber (0.4 ml) was used. Comparison of live counting with conventional fixed counting revealed that live counts gave higher numbers (up to 20% higher). Correlations between counts from live and fixed replicate samples improved with lower detrital levels suggesting that differences between methods were due to detrital masking of sedimented fixed ciliates. For Mesodinium, counts were about 20% lower in liver counted samples. The tintinnids Acanthostomella and Parafavella do not generally discard their loricas during fixation. Empty loricas seen in the fixed samples were empty at the time of fixation and enumeration of these would overestimate the living population. |
|