Mat

Materials:

             PVC pipe = 1-1/2” Ex 5z .1695 1-1/2” 14 1/12” long(37cm)

             Cork, that fits pipe

             MgCl₂ solution (75g MgCl/1000mL distilled water)

             100% ethanol to make 70% ( 70ml ethanol and 30ml water)

             Petri Dish

             Large Erlenmeyer Flask

             100 micron Plankton Filter

             Microscope

             Scale

             Set 6 Sediment Sieves

Methods:

Core sampling

 Core sampling was done by scuba diving to a highly sandy area offshore that was around 10 feet in depth. The PVC pipe was pushed, open side down into the sediment as far as it could go. The cork was pushed into the side of the PVC pipe closest to you so as to create a sucking action on the sediment. The PVC pipe was then pulled out and the sediment was emptied into a ziplock bag. If sediment started to get lose from the PVC pipe while removing from the ground a hand was slid under the open part to block all sediment from getting free. Three core samples were taken from each location in this manner so as to obtain enough meiofauna.  All three core samples were placed in the same zip lock bag until brought back to the lab for further analysis.

To Extract Marine Fauna and Flora from Sand (Method obtained from Wolfgang Sterrer, 1986)

The water from the zip lock bags holding the core samples was filtered through a 100micron filter (only water). The sand was dumped into a large Erlenmeyer flask. MgCl₂ solution was poured into the flask along with what was filtered out of the water onto the 100micron filter.  The sediment was stirred gently, and well until all the sediment was mixed with the MgCl₂ solution.  The sediment was allowed to sit in the solution for 10 minutes, until all the sediment had settled. The sediment was swirled in the flask lightly and gently, and then allowed to settle for a little. The MgCl₂ was then filtered though a 100 micron filter into another jug so as not to lose the MgCl_2, leaving as much of the sand behind as possible. A little salt water was poured through the filter backwards to get fauna into a Petri dish.   A microscope was used for further analysis.

To make MgCl Solution(carefully):
Weigh out 75g of MgCl powder, and 1000mL distilled water. Carefully and Slowly, under a hood pour the MgCl powder into the water with a magnetic stir bar continuously stirring. Be careful not to add it all at once because MgCl gets hot and pops out of the water.

To Count Meiofauna:
Meiofauna were placed in petri dish with equal sized quadrats(1cm X 1cm). 12 quadrats of the petri dish were chosen, and meiofauna was consistently counted out of those 12 quadrats for each sample.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

To Preserve Samples:        

Filter samples onto a 100 micron filter, poor 70% ethanol backward through filter (70ml ethanol, 30ml tap water) into a clean glass.  Filter again onto that filter, and rinse filter backward onto a Petri dish using 70% ethanol so samples are sitting in the dish with ethanol.  If the sample is too cloudy filter onto the filter again, and rinse backward with fresh water into the petri dish so samples are sitting in water.