Abundance estimates can be crucial for managing species of economic concern. The accuracy of these estimates can depend on the methods used to track animals and to estimate abundance from tracking data. We tested experimentally if disparate estimates of trapping efficiency calculated for sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the St. Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie, Canada could be explained by effects related to the invasiveness and handling involved in tagging or the tag size used in the marking procedures. Trapping is used to gauge adult abundance, trapping efficiency, and success of a binational sea lamprey control program in the Laurentian Great Lakes, North America. Our experiment compared nightly catches of sea lamprey marked with external fin clips, surgically-implanted passive integrated transponder tags (PIT-only), and surgically-implanted PIT and acoustic tags (PIT+acoustic). We found no evidence that the probability of being trapped was affected by the added invasiveness and handling of internal tagging. Nightly recaptures of PIT-only tagged sea lamprey, relative to fin-clipped sea lamprey, were not different from expectations based on the numbers of individuals released from each treatment group. Conversely, there was evidence of effects related to tag size. Nightly recaptures of PIT+acoustic tagged sea lamprey, relative to PIT-only tagged sea lamprey, were lower than expected based on numbers of individuals released from each treatment group. Effects related to tag size partially explain the disparate estimates in trapping efficiency observed for sea lamprey.

丰度估计对于管理经济关注的物种至关重要。这些估计的准确性可能取决于用于跟踪动物和从跟踪数据估计丰度的方法。我们通过实验测试了对海七鳃鳗（Petromyzon marinus) 在 Sault Ste 附近的 St. Marys 河。加拿大玛丽可以通过与标记涉及的侵入性和处理或标记程序中使用的标记尺寸相关的影响来解释。诱捕用于衡量北美劳伦森大湖区的成年海七鳃鳗控制计划的成鱼丰度、诱捕效率和成功率。我们的实验比较了夜间捕获的标有外部鳍夹、手术植入的无源集成转发器标签（仅限 PIT）以及手术植入的 PIT 和声学标签（PIT + 声学）的海七鳃鳗。我们没有发现任何证据表明被困的可能性受到增加的侵入性和内部标记处理的影响。夜间重新捕获仅 PIT 标记的海七鳃鳗，相对于有鳍的海七鳃鳗，与基于每个治疗组释放的个体数量的预期没有不同。相反，有证据表明与标签大小有关。相对于仅 PIT 标记的海七鳃鳗，每晚重新捕获 PIT + 声学标记的海七鳃鳗，低于基于每个治疗组释放的个体数量的预期。与标签大小相关的影响部分解释了观察到的海七鳃鳗捕获效率的不同估计。