Phytobenthic communities on fouling panels at Loano (Savona, Ligurian Sea)

The study of the algal community attached on asbestos panels immersed at Loano (Ligurian Sea, northern Italy) was carried out. 92 species were found on the whole, among them: 47 Rhodophyta, 24 Phaeophyta, 18 Chlorophyta, 2 Bacillariophyta, 1 Cianophyta, plus unidentified Bacillariophyta and Cianophyta. All the three tested factors: depth, length of the immersion period, season, seemed to greatly affect seaweed settlement. The number of species decreased at the increasing of depth; on the contrary, it increased at the increasing of the length of the immersion period. Spring was the fitness season for settlement, last summer-early autumn the least suitable