FOULING COMMUNITY AT FOUR DEPTHS IN GUAIBA ISLAND, RIO DE JANEIRO (BRAZIL)

The specific composition and the structure of the fouling community that grew on 4 PVC panels (0.20 x 0.20m) at 2, 5, 10 and 15 meters deep are presented in this paper. During the experiment 40 taxa grew, on the panels as fouling organisms. Some taxa occorred only at one depth: Polyandrocarpa sp. (Chordata ) -15 meters, Ascidia interrupta (Chordata), Ulva lactuca , Enteromorpha flexuoxa (Chlorophyta) and Colpomenia sinuosa (Phaeophyta) - ­2 meters. Extra panels were fixed to observe the recruitment in 4 different seasons. Hincksia mitchelliae (Phaeophyta), Megabalanus coccopoma , Balanus trigonus , B. eburncus (Crustacea), Obelia dichotoma and Ectopleura warreni (Cuidaria) were some of the most frequent species observed on the recruitment panels. The biomass of the organism, present at 2 and 5 meters were higher than those from la and 15 meters. Significant differences were detected on the taxa frequence among the 4 depths and among the 12 experiment months.