Abstract
The existence of macroepiphytes is one of the issues seaweed farmers often face. This research aimed to explore the co-existence of macroepiphytes with seaweed Eucheuma denticulatum at varying depths using verti net method. Results showed that the highest and the lowest density of macroepiphyte were obtained on day -10 in the depth of 50 cm and 200 cm at 248,4 and 121,28 ind/m2/day, respectively. On day-20, in the depth of 100 cm and 200 cm the densities were 333,54 and 270,01 ind/m2/day, respectively. The most dominant macroepiphyte y is Chatomorpha crasa. Physical and chemical parameters showed a temperature of 29°-30°C, current velocity of 0,050-0,067 m/sec, brightness 92%, salinity 30-33‰, nitrate 0,237-0,0416 mg/L, phosphate 0,0015-0,0036 mg/L and dissolved oxygen 5,7-6,2 mg/L. The obtained optimum environmental parameters and the type of the macroepiphytes did not show any significant negative effect on the growth of E. denticulatum.