Field notes on a fouling serpulid Hydroides elegans Haswell (Polychaeta: Serpulidae) present in confined waters of Bombay

Abstract

Tubeworm Hydroides elegans Haswell is one of the major sedentary organisms that fouls the ships berthed in confined, polluted waters of wet basin in Bombay harbour. The species breeds and settles throughout the year and generates wet debris weighing around 8/kg.m(-2) on immersed surface within a short span of 3 months. Tolerant to adverse seawater conditions as well as to potent toxins, the species is well established possibly because of the availability of rich and varied diatom flora as food.