The search for environment-friendly and non-toxic antifouling paint components has led to the investigation of natural products from seaweeds. The defence metabolites utilized by seaweed to deter redundant epibiosis have potential for harnessing and use in antifouling applications. A search for new non toxic antifouling paints has been tested in collected seaweed such as Amphiora anceps. The seaweed was extracted with three organic solvents namely methanol, dichloromethane and hexane. The test marine diatoms such as Fragilaria. oceanica, Coscinodiscus centralis and Chaetoceros curvisetus were isolated from the retrieved teak wood panel. The crude methanol, dichloromethane and hexane extracts of the A. anceps were tested against the isolated marine diatoms. Among the extracts, the methanolic extract of A. anceps inhibited all the test marine diatoms with the minimum inhibitory concentration of 10µg/ml. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) profile of the crude extract showed the presence of one bioactive compound with the Rf value of 0.55. This is an incipient investigation which will further the understanding of naturally occurring products for their potential use in antifouling technology.

Keywords: Antifouling, Amphiora anceps, Methanol, TLC