Censusing of reef invertebrates

[Ben Richards]

Dear coral-listers -
	Does anyone have information or references for books or papers
discussing surveying techniques for coral reef invertebrate species?  I am
a research assistant who has among his other tasks,  part of the
development of a rapid assessment protocol for a suite of heavily collected
reef invertebrate species (see species list).  Methods currently under
consideration are random belt transects (per AGRA protocols), timed roving
diver surveys, and stationary visual transects.  I have been unable to find
references to methods used specifically for the surveying of reef
invertebrates (there is much on fishes) in the books I have hear.  Any
information you can give would be most appreciated.  The preliminary
species list is as follows:

Giant anemone, Condylactis, gigantea
Sea biscut,
Basket star, Astrophyton spp.
Brittle stars, Ophiocoma spp.
Banded coral shrimp, Stenopus hispidus
Nudibranchs
Coralimorphs, Discosoma spp.
Crinoids
Cyphomae snail, Cyphomae gibbosum
Tulip snail, Fasciolaria tulipa

Benjamin Richards
Research Assistant
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
http://hampshire.edu/~blrF94/index.html    email: brichards at ocean.nos.noaa.gov


"You cannot stay on the summit forever, you have to come down again.
So why bother in the first place?

Just this:

What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is
above.
One climbs, one sees.
One descends, one sees no longer,

	but one has seen.

There is an art of conduscting oneself in the lower regions
by the memory ofwhat one saw higher up.

		What one can no longer see, one can still know."

					- Rene Dumal