Inhibition of byssal formation in Semimytilus algosus (Gould, 1850) by a film-forming bacterium isolated from biofouled substrata in northern Chile

Abstract

Semimytilus algosus is a small mussel species that fouls artificial culture systems of the scallop Argopecten purpuratus (Lamarck, 1819) in the north of Chile. Since biofouling organisms are a serious problem in culture, competing with the scallops for food and oxygen, environmentally- friendly methods are required to mitigate the effects of this fouling in the culture systems. The present study reports the evaluation of the inhibitory effect of biofilms and extracellular products (EP) of the bacterium Alteromonas strain Ni1-LEM on the byssal formation of S. algosus juveniles. Laboratory bioassays were carried out to determine the reattachment, exploratory behaviour and/or byssal thread production of the mussel in plastic Petri dishes containing bacterial biofilms, different dilutions of EP, and EP incorporated in a test substratum. It was concluded from the results that culture supernatants of the Alteromonas tested had an inhibitory effect on reattachment by S. algosus.

Keywords:

• Biofilm
• bacteria
• biofouling inhibition
• Semimytilus algosus
• byssus production
• aquaculture
• Chile

Acknowledgements

This study was possible thanks to the financing of the project FONDEF “Development of Products of Microbial Origin for the Control of the Biofouling in the Industry of Aquaculture”, No. D01I1166. The authors also are grateful to Yery Luza for his great contribution to the development of the investigation, and to Elizabeth Callpa for the preparation of material and technical support.