A comparison of snorkeling versus throwable anode electrofishing for evaluating stream fish habitat use

Abstract

Snorkeling and throwable anode electrofishing to sample fish habitat use were compared in two rivers in the Shenandoah River Valley, Virginia. Habitat was described by depth, velocity, distance to cover, dominant and subdominant substrate, and embeddedness for locations occupied by fish and representing available habitat. Significant differences were found between the two techniques for all variables during at least one of the sampling periods. Significant differences were also found in how the two techniques collected certain species. No significant difference was found in the effort required to get fish habitat data points using the two techniques. Depth and velocity criteria developed from the data differed significantly in the two techniques in the majority of the cases. Combined data from both techniques may actually produce better criteria than either of the two sampling techniques alone. © 2004, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.