Journal of Environmental Biology

Screening and formulation of chemoattractant coatings for artificial reef structures

Han Seong Lee^*1, M. Sidharthan¹, Cheol Soo Shim¹, Young Do Kim¹, Chi Young Lim⁴, J.W. Ko¹, Man Deuk Han²,
Maeng Joo Rang³, Lee Sae Bim³, Hwan Sung Cho⁴ and H.W. Shin¹

¹Department of Marine Biotechnology, Soonchunhyang University, Asan City - 336 745, South Korea
²Department of Biology, Soonchunhyang University, Asan City - 336 745, South Korea
³Research Innovation Center, Soonchunhyang University, Asan City - 336 745, South Korea
⁴National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Jeju Fisheries Research Institute, Jeju-do - 336 745, South Korea

(Received: August 10, 2007; Revised received: June 02, 2008; Accepted: June 03, 2008)

Abstract: This study was carried out to augment the colonization of marine benthic communities on artificial reef structure. Increasing marine pollution along with various natural hazards cause severe damages to marine algae and associated fauna. In recent years, artificial reefs have been deployed in coastal regions of several parts of the world in order to increase the marine productivity. They are mainly built with concrete materials, however, their leachates have considerable impacts on algae. Therefore to increase the algal colonization five chemoattractants such as ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, ammonium nitrate, sodium phosphate and ferrous lactate were screened against spores of a fouling alga, Ulva pertusa. FeSO4  / ZnO (8:2) and ferrous lactate coatings showed the highest spore attachment with 52 ± 5.2 cm2  and 79.5 ± 10.2 cm2 spores respectively (p<0.01). Furthermore using these chemoattractants, coating formulations were made and their performances were investigated at East coast (Ayajin harbor) and South coast (Meejo harbor) of Korea. A maximum fouling coverage (with green algae 25%, red algae 11.3% and brown algae 63.7%) was estimated from ferrous lactate coatings (p<0.01). Different composition of coating formulations and their chemoattractive properties were evaluated.

Key words: Artificial reef, Chemoattractant coatings, Fouling coverage, Panel immersion test, Ulva pertusa

PDF of full length paper is available with author (leechungwol@hanmail.net)

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