{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T16:34:00Z","timestamp":1787589240033,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787529600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000979","name":"Fisheries Research and Development Corporation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2021\/003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021\/003"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000979","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012195","name":"NSW Recreational Fishing Trust","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012195","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Cockles (ark clams) are infaunal molluscs that support important fisheries worldwide, but often occur across a complex range of strata. This creates challenges for designing independent survey programs to support fisheries management, and there is a need for additional published studies to aid development of such programs. Here, we improve the basal information available to inform the design of sampling programs for cockles, using Sydney Cockle (\n                    <jats:italic>Anadara trapezia<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) as a case study. The combination of small quadrats and systematic searching of the quadrat area using the \u2018finger dredge\u2019 approach was highly effective. In a typical nested design (including quadrats, transects, subsites and sites), a considerable proportion of the overall variation in cockle abundance was detected at intermediate distances, with an upper limit of spatial dependence of &lt;700 m. Approximately 77% of quadrats had all cockles visible upon initial observation (without \u2018finger dredging\u2019), meaning visible cockles provided a reasonable proxy for total (visible + buried) abundance. However, patterns were not consistent among subsites, suggesting site-specific factors may influence cockle burial. Presence of epiphytic algae (\u2018cockle weed\u2019) provided a poor proxy for both presence and abundance, as algae was absent when cockles were present in 75% of observations. Analyses indicated that sampling effort should prioritise a greater number of shorter transects with fewer quadrats, allocated across a grid with &lt;350 m centres. The patterns resolved are broadly useful for developing sampling programs for both cockles, and other infaunal bivalve molluscs.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.21665","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T15:59:09Z","timestamp":1787587149000},"page":"e21665","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sampling of estuarine ark clams (cockles) in estuarine soft sediment habitats, to inform fisheries management"],"prefix":"10.7717","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Matthew David","family":"Taylor","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Post Stephens Fisheries Institute,  Taylors Beach, New South Wales, Australia"},{"name":"School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney,  New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephen Grant","family":"Morris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Wollongbar Primary Industries Institute, Wollongbar, New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rowan Campbell","family":"Chick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Post Stephens Fisheries Institute,  Taylors Beach, New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4443","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.21665\/ref-1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/0198-0254(88)92605-2","article-title":"Sampling and the description of spatial pattern in marine ecology","volume":"25","author":"Andrew","year":"1987","journal-title":"Oceanography and Marine 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