THE COMPARATIVE TOLERANCES OF SOME FOULING ORGANISMS TO COPPER AND MERCURY

¹ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

The comparative toxic tolerance of several fouling organisms was based on the sequence of their attachment to copper and mercury antifouling paints. A red alga, Polysiphonia sp., and the barnacle, Balanus amphitrite, were the most tolerant and attached to copper and mercury paints before other organisms. The encrusting bryozoan, Watersipora cucullata, was found to be slightly more tolerant to copper but considerably less tolerant to mercury than the above two forms. Less tolerant forms were Balanus improvisus, Hydroides parvus, Bugula neritina, Anomia sp., Enteromorpha sp., tunicates and hydroids. Other species, though attaching to nontoxic surfaces, were never found on the toxic paints.