CONDITIONING OF ARTIFICIAL SUBSTRATA AND SETTLEMENT OF THE MARINE MUSSEL MYTILUS-EDULIS-L - A FIELD EXPERIMENT

A field experiment was carried out to determine whether artificial sub strata used for the routine monitoring of mussel settlement required c onditioning prior to deployment in order to record mussel colonisation rates accurately. Two experimental treatments, freshwater- and seawat er-conditioned pads, were compared with unconditioned pads in terms of the density and population structure of mussel spat recruiting to the m after a two-week deployment on a rocky seashore. No significant diff erences in the density or population structure of the mussels among th e three treatments were found. It is concluded that the particular art ificial substrata used, flat nylon domestic pan scourers, do not requi re this type of conditioning prior to deployment in order to monitor s ettlement.