The conclusions strongly suggest a negative relationship between terrestrial sediment load and % larval settlement. Although a control of no sediment added was mentioned in the methods, the results for the control are not highlighted in the results/discussion. Is the control included in Fig. 4 at x=0? If so, it indicates that no settlement ocurred and thus an opposite conclusion would have to be d...

Do you think that incubation of sediment / petri dish with sea water is an appropriate form of conditioning? The objective of conditioning is to provide a substrate that mimics natural conditions and settlement cues. However, unless they were conditioned in situ or with sea water pumped continuously from natural sources, the substrate may still lack the appropriate settlement cues you intended t...

To Perez et al. :

Image A looks like it has already gone through metamorphosis, as a central mouth between micrometer marks 2-5 and radial symmetry of Symbiodinium distribution in tissue. Is this image representative of all/many planula you used in your experiments? If so, the conclusions may need to be reconsidered, since it may demonstrate that in the absence of appropriate settlement cues, l...