Proactive Approach for Biofouling Control: Consequence of Chlorine on the Veliger Larvae of Mytilus edulis under Laboratory Condition

Macro fouling due to blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) has affected negatively on the operation efficiency and eventual system failure of offshore structures and coastal power stations. A certain range of chlorine (0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 mg/L) was applied on the mussel larvae to identify the survival rate with respect to various exposure times under laboratory condition. The ciliary movement of the larvae was used to check their survival. The 1.0 mg/L of chlorine shows to 97% of larvae mortality whereas 0.7 mg/L of chlorine shows only 16% of larvae mortality. Minimum exposure times for 100% larvae mortality ranged from 300 to 20 min for increasing concentrations of chlorine (0.05~1.0 mg/L). It was found that 1 mg/L of chlorine was 4 times more efficient than 0.7 mg/L of that, and 15 times more than 0.05 mg/L of chlorine dose. Data collected and analyzed here will help plant operators to optimize chlorine dosage and its scheduling.