Recruitment of biofouling community in coastal waters of Kalpakkam, southwestern Bay of Bengal, India: a seasonal perspective

Abstract

Biofouling studies in the Kalpakkam coastal waters, southwestern Bay of Bengal, were carried out for two years (2006-08) to understand the biofouling community dynamics. Teak wood panels were suspended from jetty of Madras Atomic Power Station for this study. Wide weekly as well as seasonal variations in the colonization of macrofoulants were observed. Total number of fouling taxa observed was 57. Succession pattern of the biofouling community was as follows: barnacle - hydroid - sea anemone - ascidian and finally green mussel (Perna viridis) and was almost similar to that of earlier studies. Barnacles settled on the panels throughout the year and were at their peak during monsoon and post-monsoon period. A noticeable shift in the peak settlement period of green mussel was observed in the present study as compared to earlier report. Green mussel formed the climax fouling community. Two-way ANOVA results revealed significant season-wise as well as year-wise variability in fouling biomass and settlement of barnacles and mussels. Polychaetes exhibited only year-wise variability; however, flatworms and crustaceans neither showed significant season-wise nor year-wise variation in settlement. Appearance of oysters on panels was encountered in significant numbers (~7-10% of total density) during the present study. Correlation analysis indicated that salinity and chlorophyll-a were the major factors that significantly influenced the intensity of biofouling at this location.