ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Coral Reef Research
Fouling-release coatings enhance Acropora loripes coral spat survival by limiting algal competition on seeding devices
Provisionally accepted
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville City, Australia
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The success of larval-based coral restoration depends on improving early-stage survival of coral spat, which are highly vulnerable to overgrowth by benthic competitors. This study tested whether a commercial non-biocidal fouling-release coating (FRC) could enhance coral spat survival by reducing algal colonisation on seeding devices deployed on a mid-shelf reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Acropora loripes larvae were settled onto ceramic devices featuring either FRC-treated or untreated (control) cores and monitored over ~12 months (46 weeks). Fouling was substantially lower on FRC-treated devices, with only 25% fouling cover, compared to near-total overgrowth on controls. Importantly, spat survival remained consistently higher on FRC devices (68%) compared to controls (59%) at 46 weeks. Spat survival was negatively associated with device fouling, independent of immediate benthic community composition. These results provide the first in situ mechanistic evidence that FRCs indirectly enhance coral spat survival by mitigating competitive fouling pressure during the critical early growth period. Although the greatest benefit occurred in the first six months, fouling protection persisted throughout the deployment, suggesting that FRCs could provide a scalable solution to improve restoration outcomes. Integration of FRCs into seeding device design represents a promising strategy to support large-scale coral reef restoration under ongoing climate stress.
Keywords: Coral restoration, antifouling, Fouling-release, Great Barrier Reef, coral reef, competition, recruit
Received: 12 Aug 2025; Accepted: 11 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Montalvo-Proano, Alvarez-Noriega, Flores, Severati and Negri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jose Montalvo-Proano, j.montalvoproano@aims.gov.au
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