Hydrocarbon effects on fouling assemblages: the importance of taxonomic differences, seasonal, and tidal variation.

Effects of hydrocarbon-contaminated substrata on recruitment of three species of fouling organisms were studied along the Louisiana gulf coast. Clay tiles (232 cm2) were exposed to crude oil, 10% water soluble fraction of crude oil, or 25 g/kg artificial seawater, and placed out at two locations, in two seasons, and at two tidal levels in an estuary near Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Bryozoan (Membranipora savartii) recruitment was significantly reduced in all experiments on crude oil-exposed tiles.