Macrofouling organisms with special reference to polychaetes collected from oil trash boom barriers at Chennai port, Southeast coast of India

Abstract

This study investigates the macrofouling organisms collected from oil trash boom barriers in the open waters of Chennai port (13°6’37’102 N, 80°17’54’123 E). Oil trash boom barriers are temporary floating barriers used to control oil spill in the harbour. Macrofouling organisms settled on the oil trash boom barrier were collected by scraping method. The area covered by fouling was found to be 80 – 100%. The main objective of this study is to determine the macrofouling species composition, community structure, fouling polychaetes and invasive macrofouling species on the oil trash boom barrier. A total of 46 macrofouling species belonging to ten phyla were observed in this study. Perna viridis (Asian Green mussels) and Amphibalanus amphitrite (Barnacles) were the most abundant taxon. A total of 30 polychaete species under 10 families were identified. This is the first report of polychaetes from the oil trash boom barriers at Chennai port.