Larvae of the barnacle Balanus amphltr~te amphltrite Darwin (Crustacea Cirnpedia) respond to microbial surface film cues at settlement (l e attachment and metamorphosis) The effects of fllms of varylng ages on the settlement behavlour of B amphitrite cypnds were examined in laboratory cholce assays uslng substrata preconditioned In natural seawater for longer penods (up to 18 d ) than previous studies Furthermore, in this study only known numbers of cyprids (either 1 or 20 larvae) per film treatment were investigated, allowing assessment of possible behavioural interactions between larvae Quantitative analyses of the multi-species films permitted oblective compansons between fllrn age treatments A general trend of a reversal of the effect of filmlng on cypnd settlement response -from ~nhibitory to facllitatory -was noted with increasing film age and isolated cypnds responded similarly to groups of 20 cypnds Microbial abundance and overall blotic diversity were found to be markedly greater in 'older films The fac~litation of cyprid settlement by 'older' fllms contrasts with previously published studies on B a m p l~~t~l t e and may be explained either by the greater ages of f~lms assayed In the present study or qual~tatlve/quantltative differences in fllms between studies

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