Not sure how much below the mark "just below the mark" is as you define it.
5.071 gal is 5 gal and 9.08 oz. That is basically a cup. Did you get down level with the line, or look at an angle from above as you were pumping?
.071 gal would be 16.4 cu inches of fuel.
My 5 gal cans are 8.5 wide by 13 long thus with 231 cu inches per gallon the height difference of the depth of 16.4 cu inches (.071 gal) is only 0.148 inches (between 9/64 inch and 5/32 inch)
That is barely over 1/8 inch.
With the fuel sloshing you would have to wait for nearly a minute for all motion to subside before you could adequately see that difference. On top of that as soon as you pickup or set down the can (assuming it is plastic and to see through it it must have been) the deformation of the weight on the container sidewalls will change the height of the fuel due to sidewall deformation of the container.
Not defying physics just calculating math.
Oh by the way my cans full marks that are embossed on the plastic are slightly wider than 1/8 inch so that is the same introduced error that your 0.071 gal had in depth.
Testing is down by the state at cycles and is marked on each pump.
To test it your self get a measuring cup and have at it.