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Recruitment of crustose coralline and filamentous turf algae onto lava boulders was investigated in a shallow (< 3 m) lagoon in Academy Bay, Galapagos archipelago. The treatments simulated conditions of sediment accretion (physical addition of sediment), sediment erosion (removal of sediment by water motion) and scour (physical abrasion). Crustose corallines were early colonizers of lava boulders under all treatments but were overgrown by algal turfs within the duration of the experiment (58 days) in all treatments except that simulating scour. Biomass of turfs was significantly lower in environments of scour. The amount of sediment trapped in turfs differed little between treatments over the period of the experiment. The weight of sediment trapped was up to five times the biomass of the algae. Small-scale patchiness in spatial distribution of algal turf and crustose coralline communities in Academy Bay may reflect …