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    Applying cathodically polarised substrata to the restoration of a high value coral

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    12 pages, 7 figures, 1 tableLarval settlement of the high value red coral, Corallium rubrum, was studied on three different CaCO3 substrata, viz. lithogenic (marble), electro-accreted calcium carbonate in the presence and in the absence of cathodic polarisation. The last two substrata consisted of stainless steel plates galvanically coupled with Zn anodes. The electrochemical characterization of the settlement device was studied in order to investigate correlations between cathodic parameters (polarisation potential, current density, calcareous deposit composition) and larval settlement. The results obtained in the natural habitat (at 35 m depth) showed that settlement was five times lower on the electro-accreted aragonite in the presence of low cathodic current densities (i ≤ 1 μA cm−2) compared to both marble tiles and electro-accreted aragonite in the absence of polarisation. These last two substrata showed similar settlement values. The implications of these findings on restoration strategies for C. rubrum are discussedL.B. was funded by Marie Curie IEF (CORGARD, project No. 221072) and S.R. by a Ramon y Cajal contract. Part of the project was funded by the Italy–Spain exchange program UNIPI-CSIC and PRIN 2007. Thanks to Fischer Italia and SSI Italia for support and to BDK for the UBS 40 SCR unit used for the underwater samplingPeer reviewe
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