Habitat structure is one of the important factors that affect the settlement of suspension-feeding organisms and their community structure. This study has focused on the possible relationship between habitat complexity, in particular “spatial arrangement of elements”, and sessile community structure in a shallow marine environment.

Field experiments were conducted using artificial substrates with four different spatial arrangements and fixed fractal D. The panels were exposed to colonization at four different depths and monitored weekly for 140 days. We tested the effects of spatial arrangement, depth and direction of the panels on the number of individuals, species and species composition.

There was no significant difference among spatial patterns in terms of the numbers of individuals and of species, and species composition was not significantly different among spatial arrangements. However, the numbers of individuals and of species on the bottom side were significantly greater than those on the top side, and species composition was significantly different between the top and the bottom side.

These results will be considered in the light of relationship between spatial arrangement and community structure of sessile organisms.