Larval settlement in hard substratum epifaunal assemblages: a manipulative field study of the effects of substratum filming and the presence of incumbents

Abstract

Natural larval settlement on black Perspex settlement panels was analysed for two experiments (1 and 2) conducted amongst epifaunal assemblages beneath pier pilings at Williamstown, Victoria and one experiment at Mornington, Victoria, in southeastern Australia. The overall objectives of this manipulative study were to distinguish experimentally the effects of "filming" of the substrata and the presence of previously settled incumbent invertebrates on subsequent larval settlement in the sublittoral. Filming of substrata, whilst largely excluding larval settlement, was permitted by the enclosure of settlement panels within tightly-fitting pouches of plankton gauze of 150 and 236 μm mesh size. ..