Zostera Epifauna 1975-1979 Beaufort NC

I took samples of plants and animals discontinuously (1975-1979) in two sites at Drum Shoals (34o 42?40?N, 76o 46?20?W) in Bogue Sound and two sites at Middle Marsh (34o 41?32?N,76o 37?20W) in Back Sound. Both are sites of eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds located in Carteret County, NC, USA. Drum Shoals is located at least 250 m from the nearest Spartina marsh whereas Middle Marsh sites are located from 10 to 80 m from the nearest Spartina marsh and are almost surrounded by it.
To denude plots, I removed sediment to a depth of 5 cm in 120 squares (0.25 m2 each) with a shovel in September 1975.
I sampled plants and animals using a square box quadrat macrobenthic sampler (947 cm2 bottom area ? approximately 36.5 liter volume including the top 3 cm of sediment) having 0.8 mm mesh netting.
Most of the sediment was removed through the mesh sides of the sampler in the field; after transfer to buckets, samples were brought back to the lab, washed again on a 0.8 mm mesh sieve to remove residual sediment, and frozen in plastic bags. All samples were taken in the day time within +/- 3 hours of low tide; water depth was 5 to 60 cm while sampling. Samples from denuded plots were taken in the center of each plot.
Fauna were separated from shell material and plant material in a white tray. Animals were identified to species except for some polychaete families.