| Summary: | Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlanned Statement: Samples were collected from the sampling localities described by Walker et al. 1991 (e3196ef0-e33c-11dc-97b4-00188b4c0af8) using a suction air lift operated by divers (Wells et al., 1985). No attempt was made to sample the large epifaunal species, such as bivalue Pinna, large asteroids, sponges and ascidians. Faunal samples were then treated in the following ways: 1. Cut leaves were soaked in freshwater for 5-10 mins. The non-sessile epifauna was then collected from the bottom of the bucket and from the leaves. The leaves were then treated for biomass determinations as described by Walker et al. 1991 (e3196ef0-e33c-11dc-97b4-00188b4c0af8) 2. Airlift core samples of infauna were sieved through a 1mm sieve and the resultant residue of root mat and live root bases was sorted to remove the fauna. The fauna was fixed in 5% formalin, sorted, identified and counted and wet weighed after the removal of excess moisture. Mollusc shells were opened and as much of the shell material removed as possible. All specimens except for worms were placed individually in dilute hydrochloric acid to remove calcium carbonate and left until all reactions ceased. The specimens were then rinsed in water, dried to constant weight and then weighed. Because many of the worms were potentially new species or substantial range extensions, specimens were retained for subsequent studies. For these species dry weights were determined from literature values for ratios of wet weights to AFDW (ash free dry weight). A representative collection of all groups except for molluscs has been lodged at the Australian museum. ***References***Wells, F. E., Rose, R. A. and Lang, S. 1985. An analysis of benthic marine invertebrate communities in subtidal seagrass and sand habitats in Shark Bay, Western Museum 12: 47-56 Quantitative samples of the macrofauna from three seagrass species, Posidonia australis, Posidonia sinuosa and Amphibolis antarctica, and nearby non-vegetated area were collected from ...
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