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Vol. 46 No. 4, 2007
Effect of Biofilm Age and Type on Settlement of Cyprids of the Barnacle, Fistulobalanus albicostatus Pilsbry (Thoracica: Balanidae)
Ping-Hung Chen1, Yung-Hui Chen2, and I-Ming Chen1,*
1Institute of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
2Science Education Department, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung 944, Taiwan
Ping-Hung Chen, Yung-Hui Chen, and I-Ming Chen (2007)
We studied the effects of biofilms formed in seawater under different
filtration treatments on the settlement of cyprids of the barnacle, Fistulobalanus albicostatus.
Rubber panels (10 x 10 cm) were used to culture biofilms in different
tanks where the seawater was either unfiltered or filtered twice a day
through different mesh sizes of 1, 20, and 80 µm, respectively.
Panels were cultured in each tank together with 350 cyprids, which were
allowed to settle for 24 h. Alcohol-sterilized panels were used
as controls. The numbers of settled cyprids significantly
differed among the 5 treatments (p
< 0.05) regardless of culture time. Cyprids settled better on
panels with biofilms cultured in filtered seawater than in non-filtered
water and on alcohol-sterilized panels during 5 d of culture, but
settlement decreased on panels cultured for 12 d. The number of
cyprids which settled on panels whose biofilms had been cultured for 15
d in non-filtered seawater and on which the films had fallen off from
more than 75% of the total area of the panel did not significantly
differ from the number that settled on panels cultured in the seawater
filtered with the 1 µm mesh. This shows that biofilms cultured
under different conditions affect the settlement of cyprids over time.
Key words: Barnacle, Fistulobalanus albicostatus, Biofilm.
*Correspondence: Tel: 886-7-5252000 ext. 5055. E-mail:iming@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
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