An experimental comparison of three Towed Underwater Video Systems using species metrics, benthic impact and performance

1. Managing ecological systems, which operate over large spatial scales is inherently difficult and often requires sourcing data from different countries and organizations. The assumption might be made that data collected using similar methodologies are comparable but this is rarely tested. Here, benthic video data recorded using different towed underwater video systems (TUVSs) were experimentally compared. 2. Three technically different TUVSs were compared on different seabed types (rocky, mixed ground and sandy) in Kingmere Marine Conservation Zone, off the south coast of England. For each TUVS, species metrics (forward facing camera), seabed impact (backward facing camera).and operational performance (strengths and limitations of equipment and video footage) were compared with the aim of providing recommendations on their future use and comparability of data between different systems. 3. Statistically significant differences between species richness, density, cover and assemblage com...