Composition and Structure of Macrofouling Communities on Ocean-going Ships in the Far East Sea Basin

Species composition and community structure of the fouling found on the hulls of 28 ships traveling through 6 main shipping routes (SR)in the Far East Sea Basin were analyzed using statistical methods. Samples obtained during 1976-1990 expeditions of the Institute of Marine Biology were used for the analyses. These samples were taken from the ships anchored in the harbor by SCUBA diving and in dry-docks of the Vladivostok ship-repairing yard. Similar composition of the fouling communities occurred on the ships travelling the same SR. In five cases, fouling was dominated by different Cirripedia communities. And, in one case, a community of the mussel Mytilus trossulus was found. In most cases the results of the factor analyses showed extremely low level of the relationships among different animals and algal species in fouling communities. Each ocean-going ship had an original structure of the fouling. Spatially disconnected animal associations of tropical and boreal origin may simultaneously coexist at the same ship. This paper testified to the originality of the zone of anthropogenic substrata as a benthos concentrator in the pelagic regions of the world ocean. The fouling from different zones showed that each zone possesses peculiar features and regularities of the composition and relationships between organisms dwelling here.