An inexpensive system for underwater video surveys of demersal fishes

A system for visual surveys of bottom fishes, assembled from readily available components, is described. A camera and a depth Sounder transducer are mounted on a towed body. The camera captures the images, and the depth sounder measures the distance between the camera and the bottom. A video recorder is used to record the data-the video channel for the image, and the audio channel for distance information, which is dictated from the depth sounder display into a microphone. A relationship between distance and magnification is used to estimate the width of the Survey path and the size Of Surveyed objects. A comparison of round goby (Apollonia melanostoma) density estimated by repeated seining and use of the underwater visual apparatus showed that the smallest individuals are underrepresented by the Visual assessment, but the Visual method detects about 85% of the 50 mm TL or larger gobies. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.