Extraction of Living Meiofauna from Marine Sediments by Centrifugation in a Silica Sol—Sorbitol Mixture

Abstract

A simple, rapid method is described for the extraction of living marine organisms from sandy and muddy sediments using centrifugation in a buffered mixture of sorbitol and the silica sol Percoll. The method is suitable for the collection of delicate species of "soft" meiofauna. Combined with the use of an inverted plankton microscope and settling chambers, this method greatly reduces the time and labor spent in extracting and identifying meiobenthic organisms and benthic microalgae.Key words: meiofauna, Percoll, extraction