Biofouling on artificial substrata in Muscat waters

Abstract

Macro-fouling communities developed on acrylic, aluminum, wood and fiberglass panels were investigated after 4 months exposure in Marina Bandar al Rawdah and Marina Shangri La. Wet weight of biofouling was about 2-fold higher in Marina Bandar Rawdah and different communities were formed on the front and back sides of the panels. Differences between communities on different materials were less pronounced. In the second study, wet weight and community composition of macro-fouling communities on ceramic tiles at the depth of 1 m and 5 m in Marina Bandar al Rawdah were investigated. During 2008 – 2010, there were no differences between biomass of communities, while in 2011 biomass of macro-fouling was higher on tiles at 5 m. In December 2008 the minimal weight (0 kg/m2) and in September 2011 the maximal weight (26.3 kg/m2) of macro-fouling communities were recorded. In total, 27 invertebrate fouling species were found, which mostly (33%) belonged to phylum Ectoprocta. Three invasive bryozoan (Bugula neritina, Zoobotryon verticillatum and Schizoporella errata) and one invasive tunicate (Ciona intestinalis) species were observed. Overall, this study indicates high biofouling pressure in Muscat marinas and suggests necessity of future studies of fouling communities in Oman waters.

Settlement Patterns of Corals and other Benthos on Reefs with Divergent Environments and Disturbances Histories around the Northeastern Arabian Peninsula

“…Barnacles were one of the primary drivers of the divergence of Sea of Oman reefs from the other regions, with barnacles here covering nearly a quarter of settlement tiles (22%) on average, compared with low abundance in the Musandam (5% cover) and a near absence in the Gulf (0.2% cover). Barnacles are reported to be among the most abundant members of settlement communities in Oman (Wallström et al, 2011;Dobretsov et al, 2013;Polman et al, 2013;Dobretsov, 2015), likely a reflection of their success as filterfeeders in this high-productivity environment (Sheppard et al, 1992), suggesting that the high barnacle abundance we observed is a result of long-term supply dominance in the Sea of Oman.…”

A massive update of non-indigenous species records in Mediterranean marinas

“…Distribution: Apart from the Red Sea, its distribution is not well known ( Vine, 1986 ; Ostrovsky et al, 2011 ). However, it has recently been found in the Gulf of Oman ( Dobretsov, 2015 ). Its first and only Mediterranean record (prior to our new records listed below) is from Tripoli, Lebanon ( Harmelin, 2014 ).…”

Biofouling in the Southern Caspian Sea: recruitment and successional patterns in a low diversity region

“…Previous studies have shown that the amount of free space on the panels usually decreases with the progression of the succession, especially when early colonizers exhibit high growth rates and prevent the settlement of new ones (Benedetti-Cecchi 2000, Cifuentes et al 2010, Lindeyer andGittenberger 2011). The biomass of biofoulers on the LTP, ranged from 722 (after 2 months) to 2559 g·m -2 (after 12 months), being much lower than those observed in the Indian ocean, specifically for the Gulf of Oman (4-months age panel, wet weight: 6000 g·m -2 , Dobretsov et al 2015) and the Bay of Bengal (6-month age panel, wet weight: 6392 g·m -2 , Pati and Rao 2015).…”