An enhanced underwater camera apparatus for seabed observation of megabenthic epifauna in the northern Yellow Sea

作者：YU Nan,SUN Song,WANG Shiwei,LIU Qun,ZHANG Guangtao,ZHANG Fang,SUN Xiaoxia

摘要：Seabed photographing has been applied with various underwater camera apparatuses(UCAs)for observations of megabenthic epifauna,which reveals more details than traditional sampling tools do.In this study,we improved a UCA named a towed underwater video-camera system(TUV system)with image processing software for seabed photographing in coastal areas up to 100 m.In May 2017,the TUV system was tested at 4 stations in the Zhangzi Island marine area in the northern Yellow Sea to investigate local megabenthic epifauna,especially brittle stars.At each station,more than 500 good seabed photographs each in area of 0.1550 m2 were obtained in just 10 min.Almost all of the epifauna larger than 1 mm could be identified from the photographs,including echinoderms,bivalves,cnidarians,and crustaceans.Three dominant brittle stars(Ophiopholis mirabilis,Ophiura sarsii vadicola,and Stegophiura sladeni)were spotted,and their abundance,disc diameter,cluster size,and coverage area were calculated and analyzed from the seabed photographs.The results show that the TUV system could be applied in coastal waters of hard sandy bottoms and could be used for quantitative investigations of megabenthic epifauna.

发文机构：Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science Center for Ocean Mega-Science University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Jiaozhou Bay Marine Ecosystem Research Station

关键词：seabedphotographybrittlestarsunderwatercameraapparatuses(UCAs)coastalwaters

分类号： P73[天文地球—海洋科学]